Carlo Acutis was often on his PlayStation, liked Nutella, and went out with his friends. He spoke about God with the same tone with which he spoke of jeans or sneakers. He was also a computer science prodigy and used his talent to bring the Eucharist to everyone online.
ALFREDO TEDESCO
Director, Youth Pastor of Rome
So much so that he created websites specifically dedicated to the devotion of Eucharistic miracles. So, I would say that this modernity, this feeling that modernity and being Christian are not two separate things, so to speak.
A young man of his time, Carlos Acutis was born in the early 1990s into a well-off family in Italy. However, he was not indifferent to poverty: he often shared what he had, even his own money, with homeless people he met every day.
ANTONIA SALZANO
Mother of Carlo Acutis
Carlo died at 15, he was young, but he did many charitable works. He helped homeless people on the street, bringing them sleeping bags, clothes, food, and drinks, and gave them advice. He helped kids at school, his friends, those who had problems with bullying, those who were shy. He helped the elderly, volunteered at Mother Teresa of Calcutta's soup kitchens.
NICOLA GORI
Postulator of the Cause
When he passed away, at his funeral, the church was filled with poor people. Everyone wondered what they were doing there. The truth is, Carlo helped them in secret. The family knew because, at only 15, his mother accompanied him. He would bring them sleeping bags or food, and that’s why they felt the obligation to go to his funeral.
Carlo has also become a mass phenomenon among young people. Many have seen his life as an example and a path to get closer in their faith.
CAMILLA MARZETTI
Young person from the Diocese of Rome
Carlo’s presence feels like a university friend or, when he was younger, a high school friend. And I always feel him close in everything I do. He truly helps me see life, everything that happens, with a different perspective; to look at everything through God’s eyes. And this happens every day, even in everyday life. We think that holiness might be something far from us, and it’s true that it is extraordinary, but it’s part of what happens day-to-day.
ALFREDO TEDESCO
Director, Youth Pastoral of Rome
He’s not a person we would consider special by our criteria. He does what any normal boy does, and that, in my opinion, fascinates many kids. He’s passionate about outdoor sports. And he’s very passionate about the digital world, for example, computer science, which he knew very well.
Carlo is proof that holiness is not something from the past or reserved for distant figures, but that a holy life can be lived out with a computer in hand.
CA
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