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Gregorio Borgia / AP
An image of 15-year-old Carlo Acutis, an Italian boy who died in 2006, is revealed during his beatification ceremony at the Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi, Italy.
A 15-year-old Italian computer whiz who died of leukemia in 2006 took another step toward possible sainthood with his beatification in the city of Assisi, where he is buried.
Carlo Acutis is the youngest contemporary to be beatified, a path traveled by two Portuguese shepherd boys who lived at the beginning of the 20th century and who were proclaimed Catholic saints in 2017.
At the beatification ceremony at the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, a portrait of Acutis was slowly unveiled, revealing a smiling teenager in a red polo shirt, his dark curly hair illuminated by a halo of light. Cardinal Agostino Vallini, the papal legate of the Assisi basilicas, kissed each of the masked boy’s parents, Andrea Acutis and Antonia Salzano, after reading the proclamation decreed by Pope Francis.
Already touted as the “patron saint of the Internet,” Acutis created a website to catalog miracles and took over the websites of some local Catholic organizations. While still in elementary school, Acutis taught himself to code using a college computer science textbook, and later learned to edit videos and create animations.
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“Carlo used the internet in the service of the Gospel, to reach as many people as possible,” the cardinal said during his homily, adding that the teenager saw the web “as a place to use responsibly, without becoming a slave.”
Gregorio Borgia / AP
A procession goes through the streets of Assisi, before the beatification ceremony of Carlo Acutis, 15 years old.
Acutis was born in London on May 3, 1991, to Italian parents and moved to Milan as a child. Even as a child, he showed strong religious devotion that surprised his non-practicing parents. Her mother told the Corriere della Sera newspaper that from the age of 3 she would ask to visit the churches they passed through in Milan, and at 7 she had asked to receive the sacrament of Holy Communion, earning an exception to the usual age requirement.
“There was a natural predisposition to the sacred in him,” said his mother.
Gregorio Borgia / AP
The beatification ceremony of Carlo Acutis is celebrated by Cardinal Agostino Vallini in the Basilica of San Francisco, in Assisi.
Her curiosity prompted her to study theology to answer his questions, renewing her own faith.
Carlo saved me. I was illiterate in faith. I returned thanks to Father Ilio Carrai, Padre Pio of Bologna, otherwise I would have felt discredited in my parental authority. It is a path that continues. I hope to at least end up in purgatory, ”he told the Milan newspaper.
Acutis died of acute leukemia on October 12, 2006.
Gregorio Borgia / AP
The priests wear masks with the image of Carlo Acutis, 15, whom they have dubbed “the patron saint of the Internet.”
He set out on his way to holiness after Pope Francis approved a miracle attributed to Acutis: the healing of a 7-year-old Brazilian boy from a rare pancreatic disorder after coming into contact with an Acutis relic, a piece from one of their T-shirts.
“I was sure that he was already a saint in life. He healed a woman of cancer by praying to the Virgin of Pompeii, ”her mother told Corriere.
Gregorio Borgia / AP
Cardinal Agostino Vallini, left, holds a relic of 15-year-old Carlo Acutis.
Another verified miracle is necessary for holiness, although Pope Francis has on rare occasions renounced that.
Acutis was buried in Assisi at his own request, having become an admirer of Saint Francis of Assisi for his dedication to the poor. The Umbrian city was one of his favorite travel destinations. His body, dressed in a tracksuit and slippers, has been displayed for veneration in a shrine in the city, and his heart will be displayed in a reliquary in the Basilica of San Francisco.
Gregorio Borgia / AP
Inside the Basilica of San Francisco, in Assisi, Italy, in the ceremony on Saturday.
Acutis told his mother that he would give her many signs of his presence after death.
“Before he left us, I told him: if you find our four-legged friends in heaven, look for Billy, my childhood dog that he never met,” said the mother. One day she received a call from an aunt who was unaware of the mother-child pact and told her: “Tonight I saw Carlo in a dream. He had Billy in his arms. “
