Feast day: 12 October
Saint Carlo Acutis
An Italian teenager who used his gift for computers to catalogue Eucharistic miracles and died of leukaemia at fifteen, offering his sufferings for the Pope and the Church.
- Born
- 3 May 1991, London (United Kingdom)
- Died
- 12 October 2006, Monza (Italy)
- Canonization
- Beatified 10 October 2020 in Assisi by Cardinal Agostino Vallini; canonized 7 September 2025 by Pope Leo XIV.
- Country
- Italy
Biography
Early life and family
Carlo was born in London to Andrea Acutis and Antonia Salzano, Italian parents working there, and was baptised at Our Lady of Dolours, Chelsea. The family returned to Milan a few months later. Though his parents were not fervent practitioners, Carlo asked to receive First Communion early, at seven, and from then on attended Mass daily.
The Eucharist as his highway to heaven
Self-taught in programming, between 2004 and 2006 Carlo designed an online exhibition documenting approved Eucharistic miracles around the world, which has since travelled to thousands of parishes on five continents. He also catalogued Marian apparitions, taught catechism, and quietly helped classmates, the poor and the homeless of Milan.
Illness, death and canonization
In early October 2006 Carlo was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukaemia. He offered his sufferings for Pope Benedict XVI and for the Church and died within days, on 12 October, aged fifteen. He was buried in Assisi at his own wish. A healing in Brazil of a boy with a pancreatic malformation led to his beatification, and the recovery of a Costa Rican student after a bicycle accident to his canonization in 2025.
Timeline
- 1991 — Born in London; baptised in Chelsea
- 1998 — First Communion at Perego, near Milan
- 2004 — Begins the online exhibition of Eucharistic miracles
- 2006 — Dies of leukaemia at Monza on 12 October
- 2020 — Beatified in Assisi
- 2025 — Canonized by Pope Leo XIV in Rome
Dates marked ~ are traditional or debated among historians.
Symbols
Laptop computer — His use of technology for evangelisation.
Monstrance — The Eucharist, centre of his short life.
Virtues & spiritual lessons
Eucharistic devotion, purity, cheerfulness, charity to the poor and detachment from consumerism. Carlo insisted that originality consists in becoming a saint rather than a photocopy of others.
Importance in the Church
The first millennial to be canonized, Carlo shows that holiness is possible in an ordinary school life and in the digital world, and he has become a reference point for Eucharistic catechesis among young Catholics.
Quotes
“The Eucharist is my highway to heaven.”
Words recorded by his mother, Antonia Salzano
“All people are born as originals, but many die as photocopies.”
Personal notebooks, quoted in Christus Vivit, n. 106
“Not I, but God.”
Motto written in his notebook
Writings
The Eucharistic Miracles of the World — Online catalogue and travelling exhibition he designed between 2004 and 2006.
Prayers
Prayer to Saint Carlo Acutis
O God our Father, thank you for giving us Carlo, a model of life for young people and a message of love for all. You made him fall in love with your Son Jesus, making the Eucharist his highway to heaven. Grant me, through his intercession, the grace I need, and make me burn with love for the Eucharist. Amen.
Prayer approved by the Diocese of Assisi for private devotion.
Places
Santuario della Spogliazione, Assisi — His tomb, visited by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims.
Milan, Italy — Where he grew up, studied and served the poor.
Entries are drawn from the Roman Martyrology, the General Roman Calendar, canonization records of the Holy See, and the saints' own writings. Where a date, quotation or attribution is uncertain, it is marked as such. (63 saints)