Chicago Tribune (Sunday)

Italian teen ‘patron saint of internet’ is beatified

- By Gregorio Borgia and Colleen Barry

ASSISI, Italy — A 15year-old Italian computer whiz who died of leukemia in 2006 moved a step closer to possible sainthood Saturday with his beatificat­ion in the town of Assisi, where he is buried.

Carlo Acutis is the youngest contempora­ry person to be beatified, a path taken by two Portuguese shepherd children living in the early 1900s who were proclaimed Catholic saints in 2017.

At the beatificat­ion ceremony in Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, a portrait of Acutis was unveiled. Cardinal Agostino Vallini, the papal legate for the Assisi basilicas, kissed each of the boy’s mask-wearing parents, Andrea Acutis and Antonia Salzano, after reading the proclamati­on decreed by Pope Francis.

Touted as the “patron saint of the internet,” Acutis created a website to catalog miracles and took care of websites for some local

Catholic organizati­ons. While in elementary school, Acutis taught himself to code using a university computer science textbook, and then learned how to edit videos and create animation.

“Carlo used the internet in service of the Gospel, to reach as many people as possible,” the cardinal said during his homily.

Acutis was born in London on May 3, 1991, to Italian parents and moved to Milan as a child. As a small child, he showed a strong religious devotion that surprised his nonpractic­ing parents. His mother told the Corriere della Sera newspaper that from age 3 he would ask to visit churches they passed in Milan, and by age 7 had asked to receive the sacrament of Holy Communion, winning an exception to the customary age requiremen­t.

“There was in him a natural predisposi­tion for the sacred,” hismother said.

His curiosity prompted her to study theology to answer his questions, renewing her own faith.

“Carlo saved me. Iwas an illiterate of faith. I came back thanks to Father Ilio Carrai, the 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 wind up in purgatory,” she told the Milan daily.

Acutis died of acute leukemia on Oct. 12, 2006.

Hewas put on the road to sainthood 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, apiece of one of his T-shirts.

Acutis was buried in Assisi at his own requests, having become an admirer of St. Francis of Assisi for his dedication to the poor. The Umbrian town was one of his favorite travel destinatio­ns. His body, clad in a tracksuit and sneakers, has been on display for veneration in a sanctuary in the town, and his heart will be displayed in a reliquary in the St. Francis Basilica.

 ?? GREGORIO BORGIA/AP ?? An image of Carlo Acutis is seen during his beatificat­ion ceremony Saturday celebrated by Cardinal Agostino Vallini, center, in St. Francis Basilica in Assisi, Italy.
GREGORIO BORGIA/AP An image of Carlo Acutis is seen during his beatificat­ion ceremony Saturday celebrated by Cardinal Agostino Vallini, center, in St. Francis Basilica in Assisi, Italy.

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