Blessed Carlo Acutis

Blessed Carlo Acutis was bad at soccer but loved it anyway. He was a gamer and comics fan who played Halo and Pokémon. He could carry a tune on the saxophone and dressed up like Spider-Man. He made goofy home videos of his dogs and his regular “uniform” was a rugby shirt, sneakers, and aviator sunglasses. Based on his pastimes and fashion, the young boy fit in with many kids who grew up in the 1990s and early 2000s.

But young Carlo was also a deeply spiritual and religious young man: He went to daily Mass, asked to receive first Communion at age seven, and persuaded his family to help him buy sleeping bags for the homeless. He was diagnosed with leukemia and died at age 15. In October 2020, fourteen years after his death, he became the first person from the millennial generation to be formally beatified by the Catholic Church.

The life of Blessed Carlo Acutis provides guidance for his contemporaries and people of all ages.