Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Freethinker

Home
Nonreligious
‘Blessed’ teen on track to be patron saint of the Internet

‘Blessed’ teen on track to be patron saint of the Internet

Last updated on: October 15, 2020 at 2:00 pm by Barry Duke

‘Blessed’ teen on track to be patron saint of the Internet 2020-10-15T14:00:10+02:00 Barry Duke

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Image via YouTube

A SCRAP of an Italian teenager’s T-shirt that allegedly cured a Brazilian boy of a rare pancreatic disorder set in motion a Catholic process that saw Carlo Acutis getting beatified in Assisi at the weekend.

Vatican experts in the miracle industry decided that Acutis “intervened from heaven” to cure the seven-year-old boy in 2013, seven years after Acutis died of leukemia aged 15.

Acutis, born in London on May 3, 1991 to Italian parents, was put on the road to sainthood after Pope Francis approved a miracle attributed to Acutis: the healing of Mattheus Vianna after he came into contact with an Acutis “relic”, a piece of Acutis’ T-shirt.

According to Wiki:

On 14 November 2019, the Medical Council of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes expressed a positive opinion about a miracle in Brazil attributed to Acutis’ intercession. Luchiana Vianna had taken her son Mattheus, who was born with a pancreatic defect that made eating difficult, to a prayer service.

Beforehand, Vianna had already prayed a novena asking for Acutis’ intercession, while during the service her son simply asked that he wouldn’t ‘throw up so much’.

Immediately following the service, Mattheus informed his mother of the healing and asked for solid food when he came home, as he had been on an all-liquid diet. After investigation, Pope Francis confirmed the miracle’s authenticity in a decree on 21 February 2020, enabling Acutis’ beatification.

The relic was given to the boy’s mother by a priest.

Acutis, a “computer wiz” who was in the process of documenting miracles for the Internet when he died, 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 slowly unveiled, revealing a smiling teen in a red polo shirt, his curly dark hair illuminated by a halo of light. 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.

Already touted as the “patron saint of the internet,” Acutis created a miracle website and took care of sites for some local Catholic organisations.

Vallini said:

Carlo used the Internet in service of the Gospel, to reach as many people as possible.

Image via YouTube

As a small child, he showed a strong religious devotion that surprised his non-practicing parents. His mother, Antonia Salzano, above, told the Corriere della Sera newspaper that from the age of three he would ask to visit churches they passed in Milan, and by the age of seven had asked to receive the sacrament of Holy Communion.

Acutis’ piety prompted his mum to go full-on religious.

Carlo saved me. I was an illiterate of faith … It is a path that continues. I hope to at least wind up in purgatory.

I was sure he was already a saint while alive. He healed a woman from cancer, praying to the Madonna of Pompeii.

Another verified miracle is necessary for sainthood, although Pope Francis has waived that on rare occasions.

Acutis told his mother that he would give her many signs of his presence after death.

Before he left us, I told him: If in heaven you find our four-legged friends, look for Billy, my childhood dog that he never knew.

One day she got a call from an aunt who was unaware of the mother-son pact, saying:

I saw Carlo in a dream tonight. He was holding Billy in his arms.

The Catholic Church does grisly like no other institution outside the horror movie industry – and in this instance it surpassed itself. Numerous Catholic sites feature photos of the teen lying dead, and one – Aleteia – has a report, with photos, of the opening of Acutis’ tomb for “veneration.”

Bishop Domenico Sorrentino of Assisi celebrated a Mass today for the opening of the tomb, saying that ‘today Carlo becomes in some sense visible again, the beauty of his presence among the angels and the saints. Carlo helps us to follow his footsteps and convert to Jesus.’

Aleteia added that reports that the body was “incorrupt” were false. A lot of work had to be done to prettify him for his post mortem appearance.

You can buy Carlo Acutis T-shirts here. But sadly no-one seems to have come up with a Carlo Acutis Covid-19 face mask. Budding entrepreneurs take note.

Update (15.10.20): Because thousands are flocking to see Acutis’ corpse – clad in jeans and a pair of Nike tennis shoes in a tomb with a glass window – it’s been decided to extend his period of veneration for another two days, until October 19.

• Please report any typos/errors to [email protected]

If you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee – and boy, do I get through a LOT of coffee keeping this site active – please click the link below.

I’d love a cup of coffee

Previous Post

October 14, 2020

Seventh Day Adventists have a tithing problem. Will they survive?

Next Post

October 15, 2020 Violent sexual abuse in the Vatican: two priests put on trial

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Archive My Atheism News Opinion Reviews Uncategorized

Select a Month December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 March 2007 April 2006 February 2006

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

I destroyed the world but saved eight people and many animals in a floating vessel. What am I?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The deluge A great storm The flood God's judgment

Books by This Author Books by The Freethinker

See All Titles »