Beatification Date Set for Italian Computer Programming Teen Carlo Acutis

In May 2019, Acutis’ mother, Antonia Salzano, told CNA Newsroom: “Jesus was the center of his day.” She said that priests and nuns would tell her that they could tell that the Lord had a special plan for her son.

“Carlo really had Jesus in his heart, really the pureness … When you are really pure of heart, you really touch people’s hearts,” she said.

The date for the beatification was announced the same week as the feast of Corpus Christi. Acutis had a great devotion to the Eucharist and Eucharistic miracles. 

“It is beautiful that this news comes as we prepare for the feast of Corpus Christi,” Archbishop Sorrentino said. “Young Carlo distinguished himself with his love for the Eucharist, which defined his highway to heaven.” 

The miracle that paved the way for Acutis’ beatification involved the healing of a Brazilian child suffering from a rare congenital anatomic anomaly of the pancreas in 2013. The Medical Council of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes gave a positive opinion of the miracle last November, and Pope Francis approved the miracle in February. 

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Acutis was exceptionally gifted with computers. In Christus vivit, the apostolic exhortation published after the 2018 Synod of Bishops on young people, Pope Francis offered Acutis as a model of holiness in a digital age.

“The news constitutes a ray of light in this period in which our country is struggling with a difficult health, social and work situation,” Sorrentino said.

“In these recent months of solitude and distancing, we have been experiencing the most positive aspect of the internet — a communication technology for which Carlo had a special talent.”

“The love of God can turn a great crisis into a great grace."