Carlo Acutis was born on 3rd May 1991 and died on 12 October 2006 aged just 16.

In his short life, he achieved an incredible  amount.  From a very young age, he was intensely interested in the Catholic Church – receiving his First Holy Communion aged 7.  Subsequently Carlo took confession on a weekly basis.

Growing up in Italy, Carlo defended his disabled peers when bullies mocked them at school. Outside of school, he did voluntary work with homeless and destitute people – providing food, clothing, comfort and love.

But in many ways Carlo was also just a young lad –  like any other.  He enjoyed films, comic editing and his PlayStation.   He spent a lot of his time on his computer and turned his computer skills to creating a website dedicated to cataloguing each reported Eucharistic miracle in the world. It took him four years to complete, having started compiling the catalogue at the age of eleven.

After contracting leukemia, Carlo sadly died aged 16.  At his funeral, the church was full of people, many of whom his family didn’t know.  It turns out many of them were disadvantaged people who Carlo had helped over his short lifetime.

Carlo Acutis was beatified on 20th October 2020 – following a decree by Pope Francis.