When you were growing up, what were your favorite ways to pass the time?
Whatever they were, they probably didn’t look quite like Saint Carlo Acutis’ childhood.
Meet the young saint who taught himself C, C++, and Java programming using college textbooks starting at age nine.
According to his mother, Antonia Acutis, “He used C++ and Java at the age of 9, when he was already reading computer programming textbooks that we would buy from the Polytechnic University of Milan.”
He used his coding skills for many practical purposes. He helped others with projects and even created statistical programs for his dad. But his own projects were an internet apostolate to spread the Catholic Faith, and in particular, to sharing information about Eucharistic Miracles he was so passionate about.
Carlo wanted to utilize technology and his website to evangelize. He was inspired by Blessed Giacomo Alberione’s initiatives to use the media to proclaim the Gospel.
During his battle with leukemia, his doctor asked him if he was suffering much pain and he responded that “there are people who suffer much more than me.”
He was also known for his famous quote: “The more Eucharist we receive, the more we will become like Jesus.”
He was beatified in 2020 and was canonized in 2025 by Pope Leo XIV.
Carlo Acutis is the patron saint of computer programmers and the internet.
St. Carlo Acutis, pray for us!