In short
BBC World Service Heart and Soul documentary on St Carlo Acutis, the first “millennial saint,” exploring how a 15-year-old who died in 2006 became a Vatican-recognized saint and why he resonates with today’s young people online.
Guest backgrounds
Carlo’s mother Antonia Acutis (Italian, not initially practicing; later converted); Fabrizio Zaglia (Jesuit religious studies teacher at Milan’s Leo XIII Institute); Bishop Domenico Sorrentino (Assisi); John Allen (editor of Crux, Vatican reporter); Monsignor Alberto Royo (Dicastery for the Causes of Saints promoter of faith); three Carlo’s former classmates (Milan school students).
Key claims
Carlo’s “heroic virtue” and charity (especially to the poor) plus Eucharistic devotion; his internet skills used for evangelization (e.g., Eucharistic miracle exhibitions); sainthood required verified miracles and Vatican investigation, not branding.
Notable examples
beggars outside Milan home receiving sleeping bags/food; Carlo’s Eucharistic-miracle website/exhibitions; beatification miracle: a six-year-old boy/girl in Brazil (pancreatic/pancreatic-like condition) healed after praying at his relic; canonization process includes medical-theological review and doctor-certified “no scientific explanation.”
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOIntroduction to Carlo Acutis
1:02 to 3:42
Exploring the life and significance of Carlo Acutis, the world's first millennial saint.
“This is the sound of history being made in St Peter's Square in Rome.”
Journey to Assisi: A Mother's Story
3:45 to 5:48
Antonia shares her experience raising Carlo and his early signs of faith.
“because it was home to St Rufino, St Francis, St Clair, and now the final resting place of St Carlo Acutis.”
Carlo's Charitable Nature
5:49 to 7:39
A deep dive into Carlo's compassion for the poor and his unique spirituality.
“Around our house, there were a lot of beggars living in the street.”
The Influence of Education
7:39 to 9:48
Discussing Carlo's education and how it shaped his spirituality.
“because it may answer a question that is still tantalising and mysterious for me, and it's this.”
Carlo's Legacy and Canonization
9:48 to 12:02
The journey of Carlo Acutis towards sainthood and its impact on modern youth.
“was officially opened by the Archdiocese of Milan, and he became a servant of God, the first of four stages in the journey to sainthood.”
Carlo's Legacy and Canonization
12:08 to 12:22
The journey of Carlo Acutis towards sainthood and its impact on modern youth.
“teens can gain hands-on investing experience and build positive money habits.”
Carlo's Legacy and Canonization
12:24 to 13:05
The journey of Carlo Acutis towards sainthood and its impact on modern youth.
“I'm the host of You're Dead to Me, the BBC comedy show that takes history seriously.”
Current Students Reflect on Carlo
13:10 to 14:00
Contemporary students share their thoughts on Carlo's influence and legacy.
“This is the documentary from the BBC World Service.”
Carlo's Early Life and Humility
14:00 to 15:10
Explore Carlo's childhood, humility, and dedication to helping others.
“Well, my math teacher was his math teacher.”
Path to Veneration
15:10 to 16:02
Learn about the process of Carlo's beatification and the miracles associated with him.
“that they think if you have a saint who wears blue jeans and trainers, this may be enough to draw someone into faith?”
Show all 18 chapters
Visiting Carlo's Tomb
16:02 to 17:11
Discover the unique features of Carlo's tomb and its appeal to young people.
“after a miracle was declared in his name.”
Bishop Sorrentino's Insights
17:11 to 19:06
Bishop Sorrentino discusses the connection between St. Carlo and St. Francis.
“It's almost space age in its character It's got glass along the front so you can see all the way through inside it And there he is St.”
The Church's Appeal to Youth
19:06 to 21:11
Investigate the Church's strategy of presenting Carlo as a relatable saint for millennials.
“we love to see also the body, we like to see.”
Canonization Process Explained
21:11 to 22:38
Understand the rigorous process behind recognizing a saint, with Carlo's case as an example.
“Presumably, with any particular saint, other people become important.”
Examining Holiness in Carlo's Life
22:38 to 24:24
Delve into the criteria and qualities that define Carlo's holiness.
“But recognizing someone as a saint requires more than that.”
Miracles and Their Significance
24:24 to 26:01
Learn about the miracles attributed to Carlo Acutis and their implications for canonization.
“That is, that is really the sense of charity that is not normal in kids of his age.”
Carlo as a Modern Saint
26:01 to 28:00
Explore how Carlo represents a new kind of saint relevant to today's youth and culture.
“I wonder just how useful or convenient is it for the church to find someone who this generation can relate to?”
Introduction to Carlo's Influence
28:00 to 28:11
Learn about Carlo, a viral phenomenon and potential influencer.
“And Carlo, the viral phenomenon, may become a different kind of influencer.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Domenico Sorrentino:This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK.
0:30Domenico Sorrentino:Washington Wise is an original podcast from Charles Schwab that unpacks the stories making news in Washington right now and how they may affect your finances and portfolio. Listen at schwab.com slash Washington Wise. That's schwab.com slash Washington Wise.
1:02William Crawley:This is the sound of history being made in St Peter's Square in Rome.
1:18William Crawley:The Catholic Church has just welcomed its newest saint.
1:30William Crawley:Carlo Akutas was just 15 when he died in 2006, and he's got a lot riding on him.
1:41Antonia Salzano Acutis:I had the feeling that Carlo was special since he was small, because he was very generous and there was not normal generosity.
1:49Domenico Sorrentino:Having a saint who was browsing on the internet is something exceptional in my opinion. Carlo Cotis is famous, I think, because he's so simple. He shows us everybody in a normal life can be a saint.
2:05William Crawley:In this jubilee year, the ambition of the Vatican for Carlo is that he will be the key to connecting this ancient church with a new generation of young people across the world. I'm William Crawley, and this is the documentary from the BBC World Service. For this episode of Heart and Soul, which explores personal stories of faith and spirituality, I'm in Italy to find out more about the life of the teenager who has just become the world's first millennial saint. How did a seemingly ordinary boy prove to be so extraordinary that the Holy See would recognise him as St Carlo Acutis? Born in London in 1991 to a wealthy Italian family, Carlo was baptised in the Church of Our Lady of Dolores in Fulham.
2:55William Crawley:A few months later, the family moved back to Italy, to the northern city of Milan. But Carlo's life was destined to be short. On the 2nd of October 2006, he became ill and was diagnosed with leukaemia. He died 10 days later. He was just 15 years old. I've read many stories about this young boy who had a devotion to St Francis of Assisi, the place in Italy where his family spent a lot of time. And I've read how the late Pope, also a devotee of St Francis, wanted Carlo to become a spiritual role model for other young people in the digital age. But what singled him out amongst other teenagers? To try to find out, I'm travelling to the places in Italy that marked him out for sainthood.
3:41William Crawley:Rome, Assisi and Milan. My journey begins in Assisi, often described as the City of Saints, because it was home to St Rufino, St Francis, St Clair, and now the final resting place of St Carlo Acutis.
4:02William Crawley:All the way up this road that takes you to the Franciscan Hermitage at the top and the hills of Rossisi, there is the Carlo Acuta Centre and I've come here to meet Carlo's mother, Antonia.
4:13Antonia Salzano Acutis:Hello, William. Nice to meet you.
4:14William Crawley:This is beautiful. With a saint in the family, I expected that Carlo's parents might have been deeply religious. But Antonia tells me that wasn't the case at all.
4:24Antonia Salzano Acutis:I was born in a family that was not practicant at all. I never went to Mass. So this was the situation when I got married and I had my child, Carlo. And in everything it was advanced, also the faith. And he started very shortly to ask me questions about religion. I was so ignorant. So once, when he was nearly five years, my father died of an heart attack. And after a few months, Carlo said to me, Mama, Grandpa, appeared to me and he asked me to pray because he's in purgatory. So I started to be very anxious. And somebody spoke to me about a priest that lived in Bologna. He had a special gift. And when he received me, he said, Yeah, you have a son.
5:14Antonia Salzano Acutis:Your son will be special for the church. And he told me, you have to study when you have spare time in your works, theology. I did some for 14 years of study. And I started my path of conversion that I always say will finish in Purgatory, but at least I started. And I say always that Carlo was my saviour.
5:37William Crawley:Antonia was happy to nurture Carlo's passion for faith in the church, even when it seemed odd and unusual to her at the time.
5:44Antonia Salzano Acutis:Instead of going to the park, he wanted to enter in the church.
5:47William Crawley:Let's go to the park. No, let's go to the church. this is the reason why he was my savior this is not a typical young kid no no no not typical
5:57Antonia Salzano Acutis:did you know you were raising a saint i had the feeling that carlo was special since he was small because he was very generous and there was not normal generosity carlos follow the example of saint francis he was very sensible to the poor for example when he was nine years old we used to live in the center of Milano. Around our house, there were a lot of beggars living in the street. And Carlo used to question himself. I have everything. I have the love of my parents. And these people have nothing. And so he starts to bring sleeping bags, to leave blankets, to bring food to these people. Carlo was somebody that if he met somebody in the street, even if he didn't know, he smiled, said hello.
6:43Antonia Salzano Acutis:It was very different from the other.
6:46William Crawley:What did his religion look like to you? Because he was using the internet to pursue his faith interests for a long time.
6:53Antonia Salzano Acutis:He had a special gift for computer programming, but he used the skills for evangelizing, to do, for example, some exhibition. There is one he did over the Eucharistic miracles that are signed that God give, where, for example, the host become flesh and the wine become blood. There were many, many miracles of this time. Carlo is really an instrument because also to touch the hearts of people is not easy. I mean, a human being cannot do this. Only God, grace, can do this.
7:33William Crawley:I've taken the train from Assisi to Milan. It's a long journey. It's about six hours. But I think it'll be worth the journey because it may answer a question that is still tantalising and mysterious for me, and it's this. How did a really ordinary kid become so spiritual, so deeply holy at such an early age, especially given that his mother at that point was not herself particularly religious? And the answer may be the kind of school he went to.
8:10Domenico Sorrentino:He was a very friendly, attentive and open student and also very curious as he was always asking questions.
8:18William Crawley:Fabrizio Zaglia was Carlo's religious studies teacher at the Leo XIII Institute in Milan. That's the Jesuit school Carlo attended during the last year of his life. A school shaped by the principles of another saint, Ignatius of Loyola. the founder of the Jesuits, whose spirituality put an emphasis on the originality of each person and expressing faith through the ordinariness of life.
8:48Domenico Sorrentino:In the classroom, something I remember, he was never losing his patience. He had his idea and his way of thinking that were different from the rest of his classmates. But I never saw him angry or aggressive.
9:01William Crawley:When I came through the school today, I saw these posters. They looked like pop art posters with one of us written on them and Carlo Okutis' name there. If he can become a saint, any of these other young people could become saints too.
9:21Domenico Sorrentino:Yes, as Pope Francis said, Carlo is the next door saint, a person that you meet in your everyday life.
9:34William Crawley:In January 2007, his body was transferred to a cemetery in Assisi, something he had requested. Five years after that, the process known as the cause for Carlo's beatification and canonisation was officially opened by the Archdiocese of Milan, and he became a servant of God, the first of four stages in the journey to sainthood.
9:57Antonia Salzano Acutis:I think it's the biggest thing we can have, the loss of a child. When I used to ask Carlo, what would you like to do when you would be older? Carlo used to say always, let's think of now, the present moment. Who knows if I will be still alive in the future? He had this very strange answer from a young boy.
10:20William Crawley:Becoming a saint is an extraordinary aspect of your child's life and it brings meaning, it brings an extraordinary legacy. That must be really important to you as a mother.
10:30Antonia Salzano Acutis:Definitely, but I think that each one is unique. Carlo used to say all are born original, many dies as photocopies, unfortunately.
10:38William Crawley:One of the things that people sometimes misunderstand is that a saint is not perfect, right?
10:44Antonia Salzano Acutis:Yes, definitely. Each night he used to write notes. How did I behave with my professor? Did I do the good things I could do today? And he used to put notes, and always very bad notes, because he was very severe with himself and very, very nice with others, with people. Do you pray to Carlo? Of course, I pray to help me, especially for the brothers of Carlo that are a little bit sometimes not... But anyway, I cannot have everything said.
11:16William Crawley:St. Carlo, help your brothers.
11:18Antonia Salzano Acutis:St. Carlo is looking at them. Their faith, they understand the importance of behaving in a good way. They are generous as well, but they are a little bit more noted.
11:31William Crawley:When Carlo became a saint at the canonisation, the whole world, in a sense, takes possession of him too, the whole Catholic world. How do you feel about that?
11:41Antonia Salzano Acutis:I think it's a very good thing that also the young people can have a model, a model that lived what they lived. Now, for example, the social network can be very dangerous so it's a very big problem. And to have a friend, let's say this, that has overpassed all these things. And also it's become holy. I think it's fantastic for the young.
12:07Domenico Sorrentino:With the new Schwab Teen Investor account, teens can gain hands-on investing experience and build positive money habits. It's an account co-owned by you and your teen, so you can monitor and engage with the account while your teen learns how to invest and manage money. Learn more at schwab.com. Hello, Greg Jenner here. I'm the host of You're Dead to Me, the BBC comedy show that takes history seriously. Every episode, I pair up a top historian with a fantastic comedian, and we have a lovely, funny, fascinating chat about a different subject from world history. And in this new series, we're beginning with an epic voyage through the story of Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey.
12:46Domenico Sorrentino:And that's with Kyle Smith-Bino joining us. And then we'll be learning about Francis Galton and the racist, discredited pseudoscience of eugenics with Desiree Birch. We'll meet many medieval saints in their bone boxes with Rachel Parris. So if that sounds like your sort of thing, listen to You're Dead to Me wherever you get your podcasts.
Read the full transcript
13:05William Crawley:Thank you. Bye.
13:10William Crawley:This is the documentary from the BBC World Service. I'm William Crawley and for this episode of Heart and Soul, I'm travelling through Italy, finding out more about a teenager called Carlo Acutis who has just become the world's first millennial saint. But what about today's young people in Carlo's old school in Milan? Do they see him as a role model?
13:34Domenico Sorrentino:Hi, I'm Cristina.
13:36William Crawley:I'm Leonardo.
13:37Domenico Sorrentino:And I'm Filippo. So this is the class where Carlo actually studied when he was here at the 13th. When Carlo died, his classmates left a flower on his desk for like a couple of months after his death. This is an ordinary classroom, but it also is the link between Carlo and us contemporary students. What do you know about Carlo, about his life? Well, my math teacher was his math teacher. That's so weird. It is, yeah. She said that when Carlo went to school, a lot of times he didn't do his homeworks. And she found out recently that he didn't do them because he was out to help the other people. He was humble.
14:17Domenico Sorrentino:I mean, he didn't say, I didn't do the homework because I was helping the others.
14:21William Crawley:He just said, I didn't do them. Have you guys seen the website that he put together about Eucharistic miracles? That's odd for a kid, isn't it?
14:30Domenico Sorrentino:I think that he wanted to expand the friendship that he had with God also to other people. And he was using an instrument that was becoming popular at the time, so internet. Having a saint who was browsing on the internet is something exceptional, in my opinion, especially when you think about how different is the everyday life we live now as compared to San Francesco. So I believe we get Carlo, young people get Carlo. He has been a normal kid. You know, he was late school, and when he is late to school, it's kind of refreshing to know you don't have to be perfect in your everyday life to be a saint.
15:06William Crawley:Is this a bit sort of desperate on the part of the church, that they think if you have a saint who wears blue jeans and trainers, this may be enough to draw someone into faith? Does that seem likely to you?
15:19Domenico Sorrentino:I believe yes, because in this period a lot of people are not really connecting to religion and don't have a strong faith. But maybe a person as young as Carlo could change the ideas of some people, especially young generations.
15:37William Crawley:By the beginning of July 2018, Pope Francis had declared Carlo venerable. the second stage in the journey to sainthood. The next year, his body was exhumed from the cemetery in Assisi and transferred to a local church. Two miracles are required for sainthood, one for beatification, the next stage, and one for canonisation, full sainthood. And it was in Assisi in October 2020 that Carlo was beatified after a miracle was declared in his name. A six-year-old boy from a poor area in Brazil had a pancreatic condition which meant he couldn't hold down food. After praying and touching a holy relic of Carlo, he started to eat again.
16:23William Crawley:His medical condition had disappeared and his doctors couldn't explain how. The man responsible for Carlo's remains is Domenico Sorrentino, the Bishop of Assisi. Before meeting him, it's time to see St. Carlo for myself. It is amazing how many young people I've seen in the main square in Assisi during this visit. And many of them are making their way down to this particular church, the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, for one reason only, and that is the tomb of St. Carlo Acutis is located right here.
17:06William Crawley:I've seen lots of tombs in Catholic churches I've never seen anything quite like this It's almost space age in its character It's got glass along the front so you can see all the way through inside it And there he is St. Carlo wearing blue jeans and trainers And what looks like a football top And his hair is there and his face is there And his hands holding rosary beads This is not his real skin, of course. Those are actually silicon covers because his skeleton is contained within this construction of an image of a body. But it's that image that is drawing people here because it is so different to all the other images of saints that are painted on the walls of this ancient church.
17:50William Crawley:Next door to the church where the tomb of St. Carlo is located is the residence of the Bishop of Assisi. We are in the very place where St.
18:02Domenico Sorrentino:Francis takes of his garments and this shrine of renunciation. These details are so important of the life of Francis and the Church of Assisi.
18:13William Crawley:Back in 2013, the late Pope Francis visited Assisi and he called for the Catholic Church to strip herself, to cast off distractions and inessentials and to wear the Gospel again, just like St. Francis did. For Bishop Sorrentino, that invitation from Pope Francis resonates today in the story of St. Carlo. He thinks there's a deep connection between St. Francis and our millennial saint. Together, he says, they form a bridge from the past to the present. And we can see him laying out there like a normal teenager. Why was the decision taken to have glass so that we can see him in that way?
18:54Domenico Sorrentino:We had him close in the marble tomb that was not to be seen. But people, after I exposed it just once,
19:04Antonia Salzano Acutis:always came to me and said, we love to see also the body, we like to see. And then I understood that it was something that could be good for people to look at this body, which also gives the idea of a normal body of our times.
19:22William Crawley:Yeah. I suppose there's a danger, isn't there, that people could become so focused on the image that they miss the truth behind it. This is my problem.
19:32Domenico Sorrentino:It's my problem. But we make our best to help people to have a good devotion.
19:40William Crawley:And when you look at Assisi today, do you see a change in the age group of people coming? Absolutely.
19:47Domenico Sorrentino:Many more young people? Absolutely, many more young people. Look, when I came here in 2006, I could estimate, let us say, in a year, 10 ,000 people. Last year we had almost a million. And this year we'll have more. It's really something that is amazing, it surprised me. I cannot believe it to my eyes.
20:15William Crawley:Many people are obviously fascinated by the new St. Carlo. That is good news for the church. But is this all a big marketing campaign or is there something much deeper going on?
20:29William Crawley:I'm back at Rome to see John Allen, the editor of Crux, the online Catholic newspaper, who has spent decades reporting on the internal workings of the Vatican. Hello there.
20:41Domenico Sorrentino:Good to see you. How are you?
20:44William Crawley:What does the Vatican and the Catholic Church get from Carlo as a saint?
20:50Domenico Sorrentino:At a time when the Catholic Church was being drubbed from all quarters for the child sexual abuse scandals, when the Catholic Church is losing young people in droves, all of a sudden they come up with this instantly recognizable teenage saint who checks all the millennial boxes and goes viral. Now, the only problem with that theory is the Vatican isn't nearly clever enough to come up with something like that.
21:17William Crawley:Presumably, with any particular saint, other people become important. People who make the case for your canonization, whether that's a family member or those who have joined the cult of a particular blessed or saint. How does that work in the church?
21:32Domenico Sorrentino:In the case of Carlo Okutus, of course, not only did he come from a fairly affluent family that had the means to spread the news of the life he had led, but he also happened to have the good fortune of having spent a good portion of his life in the Diocese of Assisi, which knows a thing or two about saints.
21:52William Crawley:But does that mean there's branding? There are people manipulating or manufacturing stories that call attention to someone like St. Carlo?
22:02Domenico Sorrentino:There are books, there are videos, there are websites. There's Carlo Acuta swag for the love of God. And so clearly there is an industry around this candidate. But Orthodox Catholic theology would tell you that doesn't mean there also isn't genuine holiness of life, genuine sanctity at the core of all that.
22:26William Crawley:Everyone I've spoken to as I've traveled through Italy has told me the young Carlo was a really lovely, decent kid. Normal in many respects, extraordinary in others. But recognizing someone as a saint requires more than that. there needs to be an interrogation of that life to see whether it's been an exemplary life of holiness. Here in St Peter's Square, the Vatican has a whole department whose job is to do just that. I'm here to meet Monsignor Alberto Royo, the promoter of faith at the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. It's a unique role which in the past was popularly, but unofficially nicknamed the Devil's Advocate.
23:12William Crawley:Monsignor Royo examined the case of Carlo Acutis alongside both medical and theological experts. His office has shelves full of large books containing the results of exhaustive investigations into scores of saints' lives.
23:29Domenico Sorrentino:Here in this library we have some causes that are already blessed or saints. We have John Paul I, John Paul II, Paul VI. So when you look at Carlo's life, what are you looking for? Well, we're looking for real holiness. Because one thing is to be a good boy, another thing is to be a holy boy. At different levels. So we're looking for holiness, for real, as we call it, heroic virtue. What did you find? In his life, well, we have a boy who, from a very young age, He had a special sensibility to spiritual things. He felt attracted by the Eucharist where he found the princess of Jesus. That could be a pious boy, a devout boy, but it's not the case.
24:21Domenico Sorrentino:In him was something deeper. That is, that is really the sense of charity that is not normal in kids of his age.
24:31William Crawley:So we have these two large red volumes with Carlo Akutis' name on the front of them.
24:53William Crawley:And the other big book is all the evidence to do with one single miracle that got them into the canonization category.
25:00Domenico Sorrentino:This girl from Costa Rica, who was studying in Florence, riding her bicycle in Florence, she had an accident. There was a big trauma in her brain. The doctor said it was very grave. The mother went to pray to Assisi at Carlo Acuti's tomb. And all of a sudden, the girl started to improve. This commission of doctors certified that there's no scientific explanation. This has been the miracle for the canonisation.
25:32William Crawley:It's only at this point that all that information is forwarded to the dicastery's bishops and cardinals who make an assessment. Their decision is then sent to the Pope. If the Pope agrees with their decision, a miracle is officially recognised. Canonisation is then possible. That's where the Pope declares that he believes this person is in the presence of God in heaven and that their life is a model of faith for the church on earth. But in today's digital world, where young people live much of their lives online, I wonder just how useful or convenient is it for the church to find someone who this generation can relate to?
26:14Domenico Sorrentino:No, we are not interested in finding saints, like a propaganda or things like that. No, the cases come from the diocese. Karla Kutis is famous, I think, because he's so simple. He shows us, well, first of all, everybody in a normal life can be a saint. But second, for teenagers is important because some people think that teenagers don't have any values, but that's not the truth. Teenagers can be very generous, and Karla Kutis shows it, and I think for them can be very inspiring.
26:52William Crawley:unlike most of the saints who went before him carlo didn't just leave the church some relics that remind the faithful of his life we have his voice too and that's become a kind of digital relic captured appropriately enough in an app where you can hear an ai generated voice of carlo speaking his most famous quotes in a language of your own choice everyone is born original
27:18Antonia Salzano Acutis:but many die as photocopies.
27:21Domenico Sorrentino:It is the time we dedicate to our friends that makes them special and unique.
27:26William Crawley:I've been trying to understand why a seemingly ordinary teenager would be granted a halo by the Catholic Church to compliment his trainers. Part of the answer turns out to be just that, his ordinariness. That's why his body is not hidden away behind a marble tomb. The Church wants young people to see his image. Maybe they'll even steal a selfie with it, a prompt to his story, his passion for the faith, his concern for the poor. And potentially, that image, that story, may reconnect them with an ancient church. And Carlo, the viral phenomenon, may become a different kind of influencer. You've been listening to the documentary from the BBC World Service.
28:12William Crawley:This episode of Heart and Soul was presented by me, William Crawley, the producer with Jill Collins and the editor Tara McDermott
From the publisher
How does a seemingly ordinary boy prove to be so extraordinary that he’s given a halo by the Catholic Church? Saint Carlo Acutis was just 15 years old when he died in 2006. William Crawley travels through Italy to the places most associated with the young Carlo to discover for himself what set this teenager apart from the rest.
In Assisi, William meets Carlo’s mother Antonia Salzano Acutis who reveals how her son showed an unusual generosity for a teenager. He visits Carlo’s tomb, where Domenico Sorrentino, Bishop of Assisi, explains the connection between St. Francis and Carlo, as a bridge from the past to the present. At Carlo’s old school in Milan, Istituto Leone XIII, his former professor, Fabrizio Zaggia, recalls his curious mind. And contemporary students talk of how they can relate to the Saint who designed websites.
But is it all too convenient for the Catholic Church in this Jubilee Year to find a saint that appeals to this younger generation? William ponders this in Rome with John Allen, editor of Crux, the online Catholic newspaper, before heading off to St Peter’s Square and the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints where Monsignor Alberto Royo explains the investigation into Carlo’s life to see if it was one of ‘heroic virtue’.
Presenter: William Crawley Producer: Jill Collins Editor: Tara McDermott Production co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman Credit: Carlo Acutis Digital Memorial App: Artist Riccardo Benassi, Curator Milano Arte Pubblica, Commune di Milano (Photo: Antonia Salzano, mother of blessed Carlo Acutis, who spent his life spreading his faith online, poses in front of a portrait of her son, 4 April, 2025. Credit: Tiziana Fabi/AFP)
