Blessed Carlo Acutis: A saint for today's youth

By Anne DiBernardo - Florida Catholic

Photography: FLC staff and correspondents

MIAMI | It wasn’t enough for young Carlo Acutis to attend Mass each Sunday and receive Jesus in the Eucharist. He wanted to share him with the world.

Beatified by Pope Francis in 2020, Blessed Carlo is slated to be the first millennial tech-savvy saint, who used the internet to accelerate awareness of Jesus’ real presence to a weary world of little faith. His creation of a virtual museum chronicles 164 eucharistic miracles from all over the world and has traveled to over 10,000 parishes worldwide.

It was fitting, then, that the live exhibit of 164 panels, prepared by Blessed Carlo himself, was installed at the IV International Eucharistic – Marian Congress, held at the Hilton Double Tree in Miami Oct. 7-9, 2022. The congress was organized by the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary and featured two full days of conferences with speakers from around the world.

Among them were Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami, who celebrated the opening Mass Friday evening; Archbishop Santo Marciano, of the Military Ordinariate of Italy, who celebrated Mass on Saturday morning; Mother Adela Galindo, foundress of the Pierced Hearts; Father Jorge Torres, an Orlando priest now serving as the U.S. bishops' representative for the national Eucharistic Revival; and Msgr. Stephen Rossetti, a licensed psychologist and chief exorcist of the Archdiocese of Washington.

The event, which attracted around 4,000 attendees, also featured a previously videotaped, exclusive interview with Antonia Salzano Acutis about the life of her son, recorded in Assisi, Carlo’s beloved place and the site where his remains are venerated. Carlo has been named as one of the patrons of World Youth Day in Portugal 2023.

He was born May 3, 1991 in London to a family of Italian origin. They moved to Milan in the latter part of 1991 and made it their permanent home. Like many saints, Carlo was born with an instinctive sense of the sacred. At age four, he started to pray the rosary and became curious about the life of the saints and the Bible. The family was Catholic but did not practice. In response to Carlo’s zeal, they all began to experience conversion and live their Catholic faith.

 

‘HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN’

From a very young age, Carlo saw the Eucharist as the “highway to heaven.” Whenever he saw a church, he wanted to enter and say hello to Jesus in the tabernacle. He could stay for hours and pray in front of the cross. After he made his first Communion at age seven, he went to Mass every day and spent time in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, his mother said.

He attended school, played soccer and loved video games, but his meeting with Jesus was the priority. Even when the family traveled throughout the world, Carlo’s first question would be where the nearest church was so he could attend Mass. They also went on many pilgrimages and visited the sites of many of the eucharistic miracles.

Carlo’s attitude toward prayer and spirituality was not an obstacle to living an ordinary life, said his mother. He did the things everybody does. He was nice, open, and joyful, and he spoke to his classmates in a paternal manner. “He wanted to bring them to Jesus, but in a nice way. He knew many of the classmates were far away from the beliefs.” 

He defended those who were bullied, disabled, and he dedicated his time to helping the homeless. Instead of buying a video game, he used his savings to buy a sleeping bag for a homeless man.

Jesus told Christians to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. “Really, Carlo was this,” his mother said, explaining that his normal life was not detached from his spiritual life.

That is the problem of many Christians, she noted: There is no incarnation of faith in real life, and when the two are separate, Christians cannot bring light or be salt for the world. He said her most beautiful memory of Carlo is how people could feel his proximity to Jesus.

 

‘JERUSALEM AMONG US’

“Carlo used to say that we are much luckier than people who lived more than 2000 years ago, close to Jesus. These people could see Jesus, but they had to walk kilometers and sometimes he was surrounded by crowds, and it was impossible to approach Him. Carlo said for us it is sufficient to go to the nearest church and we have ‘Jerusalem’ among us,” his mother said.

Carlo didn’t understand why people line up to see a soccer match, an influencer, or an actor, yet he saw no lines in front of tabernacles. His desire to use technology to evangelize about Jesus’ real presence in the Eucharist was inspired by his numerous visits to places of eucharistic miracles, most notably, Lanciano, Italy, where in the eighth century a Brazilian monk began having doubts about the real presence while celebrating Mass, and the host instantly transformed into wine and blood.

Blessed Carlo’s mother explained that he was touched by this miracle, by how Jesus loves us so much that he gives us such signs because our faith is so small. Carlo’s eucharistic exhibition was displayed for the first time in 2005, the year chosen by St. John Paul II as the Year of the Eucharist.

Blessed Carlo’s mother pointed to the sixth chapter of St. John’s Gospel, when Jesus tells the apostles, “whoever eats my body and drinks my blood, I will remain in him…”

“Jesus promises a special intimacy. We can already live in the co-eternity of love, of God, through the sacraments. If we live this relationship with Jesus, who hides in the consecrated host and the consecrated wine, we can already enter the dimension of paradise,” she said.

She also encouraged everyone to go to Mass during the week, not just on Sundays, when possible.

 

ASK FOR A MIRACLE NOW

When Carlo became sick in 2006, his mother said, “Carlo, why don’t you ask Jesus to do miracles now. Please ask Jesus, why don’t you do other eucharistic miracles?”

Carlo told his mother not to worry, that he would send a miracle after his death.

He died of a brain aneurism at the tender age of 15, on Oct. 12, 2006 — just 10 days after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia but not before expressing his desire to offer his suffering for the pope and the Church.

Nine days later, on Oct. 21, what the local bishop called a “eucharistic phenomenon” took place in Tixtla, Mexico, followed by another in Poland on the anniversary of Carlo’s death in 2008; and a third again in Poland in 2013. The Vatican has yet to declare these miracles but is investigating.

Blessed Carlo’s cause for canonization began five years after his death, and he was designated “venerable” in 2018. Pope Francis beatified Carlo on Oct. 10, 2020, in Assisi.

Congress attendee Susan Moore said she believes the reason God took Blessed Carlo so young was so that youths could have someone relatable to latch onto.

“He was someone we all wanted to identify with. It wasn’t like a strange nun and a weird habit. It was a boy who wore sweats and was buried in his sweats and lived a life that was so unusual for a child today, and obviously he had such a strong purpose because he started so young in his life, and so God’s purpose for him is yet to be seen,” Moore said.

“He was an extraordinary child and now as a soon-to-be saint, taking many to conversion and teaching the real presence in the Eucharist,” said Madelyn Ocasio, another attendee and parishioner of St. Raymond Church in Miami.