Nicola Gori - Carlo Acutis: The First Millennial Saint

The First Millennial Saint

Nicola Gori

Translation by Daniel Gallagher

Copyright 2021 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Vatican City

26 25 24 23 22 212 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

All rights reserved. With the exception of short excerpts for critical reviews, no part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without permission from the publisher. For more information, visit: www.osv.com/permissions.

Published in English by Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, Our Sunday Visitor, Inc., 200 Noll Plaza, Huntington, IN 46750; 1-800-348-2440; www.osv.com.

ISBN: 978-1-68192-935-4 (Inventory No. T2675)

1. Religion/Christianity/Saints & Sainthood

2. Biography & Autobiography/Religious

3. Religion/Christianity/Catholic

eISBN: 978-1-68192-936-1

LCCN: 2021934759

Cover design: Tyler Ottinger

Cover images: Photos Courtesy Carlo Acutis Center

Interior design: Amanda Falk

Interior art: Caroline Baker Mazure

P RINTED IN THE U NITED S TATES OF A MERICA

In his post-synodal apostolic exhortation to young people and the entire people of God entitled Christus Vivit (March 25, 2019), Pope Francis offered Carlo as an example of holiness to young people in the digital age. Pope Francis remarked that the internet can be risky, but it also has enormous potential. Carlo knew how to make the internet serve the common good and the Gospel, showing how to use it without compromising ones moral responsibilities. Carlos knack for programming made him a pioneer and a model for every young person who uses computer technology. Pope Francis writes:

I remind you of the good news we received as a gift on the morning of the Resurrection: that in all the dark and painful situations we have mentioned, there is a way out. For example, it is true that the digital world can expose you to the risk of self-absorption, isolation and empty pleasure. But dont forget that there are young people even there who show creativity and genius. Such was the case with the Venerable Carlo Acutis.

Carlo was well aware that the whole apparatus of communication, advertising, and social networking can be used to stupefy us, addict us to consumerism, and persuade us of the importance of having the latest gadget, to be obsessed with our free time, and to get caught up in negativity. Yet Carlo knew how to use communication technology to spread the Gospel and the values of goodness and beauty.

Carlo didnt fall into the usual trap. He saw that many young people, wanting to be different, really end up being like everyone else, running after whatever those in power set before them with the mechanisms of consumerism and distraction. Thus, they do not bring to fruition the gifts that the Lord has given them. They fail to offer the world those unique, personal talents that God has given to each. As a result, Carlo said, Everyone is born original, but most end up dying photocopies. Dont let this happen to you!

Dont let them rob you of hope and joy, or drug you into becoming a slave to their interests. Dare to be more, because who you are is more important than any possession you own. What good are possessions or appearances? You can become what God your Creator knows you are, if only you realize that you are called to something greater. Ask the help of the Holy Spirit and confidently aim for the lofty goal of holiness. In this way, you will never become a photocopy. You will be fully yourself.

If this is to happen, you need to realize one basic truth: being young is not only about pursuing fleeting pleasures and superficial achievements. If the years of your youth are to serve their purpose in life, they must become a time of generous commitment, whole-hearted dedication, and sacrifices that are difficult but ultimately fruitful.

Pope Francis again drew attention to Carlos life in his Angelus Address of October 11, 2020, the day after the beatification ceremony and a week after he had signed the encyclical Fratelli Tutti at the tomb of Saint Francis of Assisi:

Yesterday, in Assisi, Carlo Acutis, a 15-year-old youth enamoured with the Eucharist, was beatified. He did not ease into comfortable inertia, but understood the needs of his time, because he saw the face of Christ in the weakest. His witness indicates to todays young people that true happiness is found by putting God in first place and serving Him in our brothers and sisters, especially the least. A round of applause for the new young Blessed!

Christus Vivit, 104108.

Pope Francis, Angelus, October 11, 2020.

I remind you of the good news we received as a gift on the morning of the resurrection: that in all the dark or painful situations that we mentioned, there is a way out. For example, it is true that the digital world can expose you to the risk of self-absorption, isolation, and empty pleasure. But dont forget that there are young people even there who show creativity and even genius. That was the case with the Venerable Carlo Acutis. He knew how to use communications technology to transmit the Gospel, to communicate values and beauty.

These are the words of Pope Francis who extolled the holiness of Carlo Acutis in Christus Vivit, addressed to young people and the entire people of God. Carlo died from a sudden and violent illness in 2006 at the tender age of fifteen. In less than a decade, his story has had an enormous effect on the hearts of countless young people, communities, and youth groups in Italy and across the globe, both inside and outside the Catholic Church. Pope Francis declared him Venerable in 2018, opening the way to the beatification ceremony celebrated in Assisi on October 10, 2020. It was in Assisi the earthy town of Saint Francis a place he loved more than any other, a place he returned to repeatedly to refresh his soul, where Carlo was laid to rest.

Besides the usual things any teenager loves, Carlo had a deep and abiding love for the Eucharist: his highway to heaven. His dedication to Mass, even when on vacation, demonstrates his awareness that it is precisely in the Eucharist that we experience our memory of the future. The Eucharist, in fact, reveals that we are hidden with Christ in God (see Col 3:3), and by our participation in it, our fragile humanity gradually begins to show signs of its ultimate destiny: immersion in the life of the Trinity.

With this awareness, Carlo did not find meaning in life by seeking rewards or dreaming up futile projects, but through his intelligence, his humanity, and his adolescent energy by manifesting the life of God received through the gift of Baptism. This was the reason for his constant mantra to himself and his friends: We are all born unique, but many die photocopies. As Pope Francis recalls in Christus Vivit, Being young is not only about pursuing fleeting pleasures and superficial achievements. If the years of your youth are to serve their purpose in life, they must be a time of generous commitment, whole-hearted dedication, and sacrifices that are difficult but ultimately fruitful.