is the first “influencer” of the Catholic Church

In a solemn ceremony in Assisi, central Italy, the Catholic Church beatified the young Italian Carlo Acutis on Saturday, a computer genius who became the first influencer on religious issues to reach altars.

Acutis, who died at the age of 15 in 2006 from leukemia and whose body is still “intact” with his jeans and sports shoes, is considered by Pope Francis a “bright” and “creative” young man, an example for the new generations.

“It is true that the digital world can expose you to the risk of withdrawal, isolation or empty pleasure. But do not forget that there are young people who are also creative, and sometimes brilliant, in this environment,” wrote the Argentine pope, giving Acutis as an example.

The official portal of the Holy See, Vatican News, describes the young man as “a normal, handsome and popular boy”, a kind of “natural clown” who made his classmates and teachers laugh.

The beatification ceremony, which had to be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, was held in Assisi, the city of San Francisco, and streamed around the world.

“My entire family in Argentina is very excited and asks me to pray for them and for Carlo as well. We are very happy,” Carla Fiezzi, a student who participated in the ceremony, told AFPTV.

“The young people were a little tired of a pastoral ministry that perhaps was not in accordance with the times […]But the Lord intervenes in history and human affairs and offers us these beacons of light “, estimated Father Enzo Fortunato, head of the press service of the Assisi convent.

Be original, not photocopies

Born in London in 1991, Carlo Acutis died in Monza (Milan region) on October 12, 2006.

“All men are born as originals, but many die as photocopies, don’t let that happen to you!” Acutis recommended to his generation, who managed to reach thousands of people around the world with his young and fresh language.

Acutis was declared “venerable” on July 5, 2018 and almost a year later his remains were transferred to Assisi.

The church acknowledged that it interceded in a miracle: the inexplicable recovery in 2013 of a Brazilian boy, which opened the way for him to beatification, the first step towards becoming a saint, for which two miracles are needed.

The blessed, who loved to play football, video games, Nutella and ice cream, dedicated a good part of his life to virtual catechism and the creation of cybernetic networks to connect more than 10,000 parishes.

His online writings, with religious content, even inspired the Argentine pope, who in a text urged young people to avoid considering God as “a hard drive.”

Internet fanatic and motivated by an intense faith, the young man had created a page about faith and Eucharistic miracles.

His mother, Antonia Salzano, told the Vatican website that the young man “with a relatively obsolete computer, managed to reach thousands of people on all continents” thanks to his personality and the way he communicates his faith.

The bishop of Assisi, Domenico Sorrentino, maintains that the new blessed exercises today “an attraction similar”, in a way, to that of Saint Francis of Assisi in his time.

“In Assisi we are used to the charm of Saint Francis […]. But that a boy who died at the age of 15 in 2006 is already so influential is something that can only be explained for supernatural reasons, “the priest assured the media.

If he becomes a “saint,” the Church would consider naming him patron saint of Internet users, the prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints told the Los Angeles Times at the end of June.

But the Church has officially had an “Internet patron saint” since 2002. It is about Isidore of Seville, Spanish archbishop of the seventh century, who compiled a 20-volume encyclopedic work with all the knowledge available at that time.