"All people are born as originals, but many die as photocopies."
— Carlo AcutisCarlo Acutis was born in London in 1991 to Italian parents, Andrea and Antonia, who moved back to Milan with him when he was just a few months old. From the outside, his childhood looked completely ordinary — he loved video games, football, and his dog, and he had the same easy charm and sense of humour as any other kid on his street.
What set him apart, even from a very young age, was a hunger for the Eucharist that his own parents didn't share. His mother later said Carlo was the one who drew her back to her own faith, pestering her gently to take him to daily Mass from around the age of seven, long before he'd had any formal push toward it from family or school.
He had a nanny who was Hindu and one who was a devout Catholic, and Carlo would ask them both endless questions about God, quietly comparing what he heard, forming his own convictions rather than simply inheriting them.
Born in London to Italian parents Andrea and Antonia.
Begins asking to attend daily Mass, drawing his own family back to faith.
Teaches himself computer programming; builds a website cataloguing Eucharistic miracles worldwide.
Diagnosed with acute leukemia; offers his suffering for the Pope and the Church.
Dies in Monza, aged 15; buried in Assisi as he requested.
Beatified by the Catholic Church.
Canonised as the first millennial saint.
Am I living as the original God made me, or copying what everyone around me is doing?
How central is the Eucharist to my own daily life and choices?
What single-minded devotion could I bring to my faith the way Carlo brought to his?