Born in London and raised in Milan, Carlo Acutis’ wealthy parents were not particularly religious. Upon receiving his first communion at age seven, Carlo became a frequent communicant, making a point of praying before the tabernacle before or after every Mass. At school Carlo tried to comfort friends whose parents were undergoing divorce, as well as stepping in to defend disabled students from bullies. After school hours he volunteered his time with the city’s homeless and destitute. Considered a computer geek by some, Carlo spent four years creating a website dedicated to cataloguing every reported Eucharistic miracle around the world. He also enjoyed films, comics, soccer, and playing popular video games.

Diagnosed with leukaemia, Carlo offered his sufferings to God for the intentions of the sitting pope—Benedict XVI—and the entire Church. His longtime desire to visit as many sites of Eucharistic miracles as possible was cut short by his illness. Carlo died in 2006 and was beatified in 2020. Among the thousands present for Carlo’s beatification at Assisi’s Basilica of St. Francis were many of his childhood friends. Presiding at the beatification service, Cardinal Agostino Vallini praised Carlo as an example of how young people can use technology to spread the Gospel “to reach as many people as possible and help them know the beauty of friendship with the Lord.” His liturgical feast is celebrated on October 12.

There are lives that roll by in apparent normality, and then there are lives that are exceptional. The most surprising thing about Carlo’s story is how he managed to be profoundly original; to everyone he met, he appeared the picture of exceptional, smiling normality. Carlo was a boy like any other, yet at the same time, capable of extraordinary things. Apparently without effect, without contradiction. He played the saxophone, and—at a very young age—taught catechism to children. He used to play football with his friends and an hour later he would be volunteering at the soup kitchen of the Capuchins and the Sisters of Mother Teresa. He enjoyed playing video games, and at the same time used the internet to spread the word of God. He watched detective shows on TV, filmed videos of his cats and dogs, and assisted the least fortunate in the neighbourhood. He designed computer programs and helped other children who were having trouble with their homework.

Illuminated and fuelled by an extraordinary faith, which he powerfully experienced from childhood, Carlo was an example able to engage and inspire others, rallying them into action. Today, this example drives the Carlo Acutis Foundation to take up and further his moral and spiritual legacy, in keeping with those same timeless values the young Carlo had been taught at home, and which are part of his family history. These values are now applied on a much larger scale, through the social activities of the Carlo Acutis Foundation.