Blessed Carlo Acutis, one of the Patrons of World Youth Day (WYD) Lisbon 2023, was born on 3 May 1991. Today we celebrate his birth, he who was a young man who dedicated his short life to Jesus Christ and played an important evangelizing role through the internet.

So that you can get to know Blessed Carlo Acutis better, we leave you ten curiosities about him:

1.     

Son of Italian parents, Carlo Acutis was born in London on May 3, 1991 and was baptized two weeks later, on May 18, at the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows in Fulham Road.

2.     

At the age of seven, on 16 June 1998, Carlo received his First Holy Communion at the Convent of the Romite Nuns of St Ambrose in Perego. According to his mother, Antonia Acutis, from an early age Carlo never missed Holy Mass and the Rosary, which was followed by a time of Eucharistic adoration, especially after his First Communion.

3.     

On 24 May 2003 he received the Sacrament of Confirmation in his parish, Santa Maria Segreta, and in 2005 he began his studies at the Leo XIII Institute of the Jesuit Fathers.

4.     

Carlo Acutis always showed great openness to others, especially to those most in need. He had the normal habits of a young man of his age and loved to study, to play football and to be with others.

5.     

From an early age he discovered in Jesus a precious treasure that he wanted to share with everyone. That is why he became an apostle through the means he loved most, information technology. "To be always with Jesus, this is my life project" was the motto of his life.

6.     

The pillars of Carlo's spirituality were Our Lady and the Eucharist. Carlo was devoted to Our Lady of Fatima and, in particular, to the little shepherds Francisco and Jacinta and visited Lisbon and the Shrine of Fatima in a trip to Portugal.

7.     

At home, he would ask his parents to put the leftover food in containers and, at night, he would go with them through the streets of Milan distributing blankets and warm meals to the homeless.

8.     

Despite being very young, Carlo became an expert in computer science and programming, a gift he put at the service of Jesus, uniting the two passions of his life. He created virtual exhibitions on themes of faith and Eucharistic miracles all over the world to help evangelization, an action that earned him the title of "patron saint of the Internet".

9.     

He fell ill in September 2006 and what was thought to be a flu turned out to be fulminant leukaemia. On 9 October he was transferred to the San Gerardo Hospital in Monza. Aware of his state of health, Carlo Acutis asked to receive the Anointing of the Sick and Holy Communion, offering his sufferings to God. It was on 12 October 2006 that a cerebral haemorrhage caused his death, at the age of 15.

10.  

He was beatified on 10 October 2020 at a Mass presided over by the Pope's Cardinal-Vicar for the Diocese of Rome, Agostino Vallini, who read Pope Francis' letter with the formula of beatification: "We grant that the Venerable Servant of God Carlo Acutis, a layman, who, with the enthusiasm of youth, cultivated friendship with the Lord Jesus, placing the Eucharist and the witness of charity at the centre of his own life, may henceforth be called Blessed and may be celebrated every year in the places and according to the rules established by law, on October 12, the day of his birth to heaven".

Recently, in the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christus vivit, Pope Francis invited young people to follow the path of holiness, as did the young Carlo Acutis, who "knew how to use the new techniques of communication to transmit the Gospel and communicate values and beauty".