Blessed Carlo Acutis: A Saint in Sneakers

How does a 15-year-old child from Milan become a worldwide "influencer for God" more than a decade after his death? Learn about Blessed Carlo Acutis, the first Millennial to be Beatified by the Catholic Church.

This technologically proficient adolescent has shown to the world that computer coding and video games are not mutually incompatible with sainthood. Carlo, who was born the same year as the World Wide Web, has been praised by Pope Francis for being a testament to holiness in our digital era, at a time when Christians are still dealing with how to live out their faith in a world of computers, mobile phones, and social media.

Carlo's zeal for God was infectious from an early age. He referred to the Eucharist as "my highway to heaven" and was anxious to teach anybody who would listen about the tremendous truth of Jesus' presence in the earth, hidden in our midst beneath the appearances of bread and wine. 

Courtney Mares, a Vatican journalist, followed in Acutis' footsteps through the Italian towns of Milan and Assisi to create this biography, which mixes narrative with well-researched reporting to convey the inspirational life of a contemporary saint. This book provides a picture of Carlo as seen through the eyes of his family, friends, instructors, and classmates, based on the testimony of the many lives impacted by Carlo.

The book includes a part on seven Eucharistic marvels, which takes you to Catholic pilgrimage sites in Europe that Carlo documented for a global exhibition. It also tells the account of a medical miracle credited to Acutis' intervention, the 2013 healing of a little child in Brazil.

This piece explores how a youngster who did not seek attention for himself while living has "gone viral" in the years after his death. It's the narrative of a spiritually rich childhood lived as an average child. This book, filled with testimony from Millennials and Generation Z Catholics, demonstrates how Carlo's tale continues to inspire generations of young people by demonstrating that we are "called to something greater" than continuous smartphone scrolling and that it is possible to be a saint today.