A biography of Saint Carlo Acutis
By Nicola Gori
ST PAULS, 58/23rd Road, TPS III, Bandra West, Mumbai 400 050, India
ISBN 978-81-19597-71-0 – Year 2025 / Pp 168 / Rs 200
Reviewed by Ladislaus Louis D’Souza
British-born Italian Carlo Acutis was no ordinary teenager! A soccer afficionado to boot, whose passion for video games was legendary, he is said to have been ever on fire for God since early childhood.
Notably, this computer geek used his prowess at the internet to share as widely as possible the profound reality of the Real Presence. His penchant for video games and playing the saxophone, apart from spending time with friends and creating short films featuring his beloved pets, did not deter him from his unwavering pursuit of holiness.
That in a nutshell is Christendom’s soon-to-be-canonized Saint, Carlo Acutis for you!
The book, EUCHARIST, MY HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN, takes its title from the youngster’s own words, “The Eucharist is the highway to heaven.” The result of in-depth investigation and research into the intricacies of Carlo’s life by Italian writer Nicola Gori, Postulator of Acutis’ cause, it goes beyond the scope of a simple biography. Endowed with extraordinary intelligence, Carlo obviously saw in the Holy Eucharist the vibrancy of the Church’s entire Theology. Deeply devoted to the Real Presence, he would invite all and sundry to encounter the love of Jesus in the Eucharist, he himself setting an example by attending Holy Mass daily. From spending long hours in Eucharistic adoration came the inspiration for this “Cyber apostle of the Eucharist” (Pope Francis) to create a striking website documenting some 187 Eucharistic miracles occurring across Christendom.
Translated from Italian by Pauline Father Joseph Thenasseril [former general editor of St Paul’s/ Better Yourself Books], the book offers firsthand insights into the life of Carlo Acutis that make for compelling reading. The story of Carlo’s saintliness, so simply shared here in two parts, is a call to holiness for all, proving that sanctity is within reach, even in the modern world, be it in a business suit or in Tee’s and tracks!
As he would often say, “When we face the sun we get a tan… but when we stand before Jesus in the Eucharist, we become saints.”
Part I gives the reader A Brief Life Sketch of Carlo Acutis (pp 29-71), highlighting interesting aspects of his childhood, his growing years of passion for computer science and animals, apart from his relationship with his grandparents.
While Part I closes with a reference to his vacations in Assisi, the land of Christianity’s favorite saint, Francis, Part II (pp 74-153), which dwells on the Spiritual Journey of Carlo Acutis, opens with a reference to the influence of the Poverello of Assisi on Carlo’s impressionable mind.
His love for the Eucharist and the sacraments and his profound theological insights, as also his sudden illness and death, find expression in this part. Not to be missed are the personal testimonies of those who interacted with him and which provide an intimate portrait of a young saint that include a peep into his sentiments concerning the Pope, too. But of course, it is his deep love for the Eucharistic Lord that is the overriding feature of this book.
EUCHARIST, MY HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN is an interesting narrative on Christianity’s newest young saint woven by Nicola Gori, a regular correspondent for the Vatican’s L’Osservatore Romano who holds a degree in foreign languages and in literature from the University of Florence.
It is significant that this first of millennial saints was to have been canonized on Divine Mercy Sunday April 27 by Pope Francis. It is however, even more significant that with the passage of Francis into eternity on Easter Monday, Carlo, given his filial love for Mary, will now be canonized by Pope Leo XIV on September 7, the Eve of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who he had unabashedly claimed “is the only woman in my life!”