How a Millennial Became a Saint: The Journey of Carlo Acutis
Abigail James - September 2025
Carlo Acutis, born in 1991, grew up in Milan like any other boy of his generation. He loved soccer, video games, and spending time with friends. But behind these ordinary joys was an extraordinary devotion to God that would one day inspire the world.
From a young age, Carlo had a deep love for the Eucharist. He convinced his parents to take him to daily Mass, and he spent countless hours in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. His mother would later admit that it was Carlo, her son, who reawakened her faith.
Carlo also had a gift for technology. He learned programming on his own and used his skills not for fame or money, but for evangelization. By the time he was a teenager, he had created a website cataloging Eucharistic miracles around the world, saying, “The Eucharist is my highway to heaven.” This simple but powerful phrase has since echoed across the Church as a call to rediscover the Real Presence of Christ.
In 2006, Carlo’s life was cut short by leukemia at the age of 15. He offered up his suffering for the Church and for the Pope, showing maturity and faith far beyond his years. He was buried in Assisi, the city of St. Francis, whom he deeply admired.
Carlo’s reputation for holiness spread quickly after his death. Pope Francis highlighted him in the 2018 exhortation Christus Vivit, presenting him as a model of youthful sanctity in the modern age. In 2020, Carlo was beatified in Assisi, and thousands came to venerate his relics, seeing in him a witness that holiness is possible for every generation-even in jeans and sneakers.
On September 7, 2025, Carlo Acutis will be canonized a saint. For the first time in history, the Church raises to the altars a millennial who lived in the digital age, reminding us that sanctity is not about escaping the modern world but transforming it with love. Carlo’s life shows us that even in a culture of distraction, it is possible to keep our eyes fixed on heaven. (Courtsey: catholiconline.news).
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