An Italian teenager beatified yesterday showed heaven was an “attainable goal”, according to the cardinal who read the papal letter proclaiming him “blessed”. Source: The Tablet.
Carlo Acutis was born in London on May 3, 1991, to Italian parents and was baptised at Our Lady of Dolours in Fulham on May 18, 1991, by Fr Nicholas Martin OSM. Soon afterwards, the family moved to Milan. He died of leukaemia in 2006. Skilled on computers, among other achievements during his short life, he created a website listing Eucharistic miracles.
During the beatification Mass at the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi, Italian Cardinal Agostino Vallini read Pope Francis’ apostolic letter proclaiming Carlo “blessed”, the step before canonisation.
After the reading of the apostolic letter, the newly beatified teen’s parents, Andrea Acutis and Antonia Salzano, processed toward the altar carrying a reliquary containing their son’s heart.
The reliquary was engraved with one of the teen’s well-known quotes: “The Eucharist is my highway to heaven.”
The liturgy was held inside the basilica, but measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 meant that most of those attending sat outside on seats set one metre apart, watching on big screens.
Reflecting on the teen’s life, Cardinal Vallini said that like most young people his age, Carlo was a “normal, simple, spontaneous, friendly” teenager who used modern forms of communication to transmit the “values and beauty of the Gospel”.
For him, “the internet was not just a means of escape, but a space for dialogue, knowledge, sharing and mutual respect that was to be used responsibly, without becoming slaves to it and rejecting digital bullying,” the cardinal said.
FULL STORY
London-born teen on path to sainthood (By Junno Arocho Esteves, CNS via The Tablet)
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Beatified teen showed that heaven is ‘attainable goal,’ cardinal says (CNS)
