Carlo Acutis, a Catholic Italian teenager who died in 2006, will be beatified Oct. 10 in Assisi. Acutis, a gamer and computer programmer who loved soccer and the Eucharist, has been the subject of interest around the world. Pope Francis referred to Carlo as a model of holiness in a digital age. Carlo’s life should teach today’s young people how to properly use and enjoy technology, including the internet and social media.

"To always be close to Jesus, that's my life plan”

Carlo Acutis was born May 3, 1991, in London though his family moved to Milan shortly after. From a young age, Carlo seemed to have a special love for God, even though his parents weren’t especially devout. His mom said she had been to Mass only for her First Communion, her confirmation, and her wedding but young Carlo's unique and unexplained devotion led to her deep conversion. The priest promoting his cause for sainthood noted that Carlo “managed to drag his relatives, his parents to Mass every day. It was not the other way around; it was not his parents bringing the little boy to Mass, but it was he who managed to get himself to Mass and to convince others to receive Communion daily.” What an inspiration for a child to model faith witness to a family!

He had a gift for empathy and was known for defending kids at school who got picked on, especially disabled kids. Carlo loved soccer and video games. He tried to stay disciplined and only played games for an hour a week even though he really wanted to play much more. He also bought computer programming books and taught himself computer coding and animation. He had a great devotion to Mary loved to pray the rosary. He went to Mass and confession as often as he could.

He loved the Eucharist and was fascinated by Eucharistic miracles. He asked his parents to take him on pilgrimages — to the places of the saints, and to the sites of Eucharistic miracles. Using his research, he began creating what would eventually become a website to catalog and share the information with others. Carlo was concerned by people growing distant to the Church and the sacraments and desperately wanted to bring them back. On the site, he told people that “the more often we receive the Eucharist, the more we will become like Jesus, so that on this earth we will have a foretaste of heaven.”