Carlo’s Legacy, a Blueprint in Integrating Modernity with Faith

We are a few days away from the Canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis on September 7, 2025 many like me are reflecting on what made this young digital influencer so extraordinary. At just 15 years old, I have personally visited and prayed at his tomb in Assisi many times. What usually stands out for me is Carlo managed to live a life of deep holiness without retreating from the modern world. He created a good synergy that should serve as a good example for our current digital generation to iterate faith and modernity that have often been seen as parallel. For me his legacy stands as a powerful blueprint for integrating contemporary interests of young people like technology, gaming, social media with authentic, living faith.

I should say Carlo is a teenager of his time. Born in 1991 in London and raised in Milan. Like many teenagers today, he loved video games, soccer, and technology. He played Pokémon, enjoyed Super Mario, and was fascinated by computers. But what made Carlo different was how he viewed these interests not as distractions, but as tools to be used for a greater purpose. This sends a powerful message of hope. 

Like he once said, “The Eucharist is my highway to heaven,” and he lived this belief fully, attending daily Mass and Eucharistic Adoration. At the same time, he taught himself to code and used his digital skills to create a website cataloging Eucharistic miracles around the world. It was his way of evangelizing in the digital age. Our young people are doing a lot with technology today and I believe if they time to reflect on the model Blessed Carlo gives us they too would do a lot with technology and modern evangelisation. We have just celebrated the Jubilee for digital missionaries. We now all know what positivity is coming from the digital space. 

Looking at Carlo the “Influencer” who pointed to Christ in a culture that celebrates social media fame, Carlo offers a refreshing and radical alternative. He’s been called “God’s Influencer” by many not because he curated a perfect Instagram feed, but because everything he did pointed people to Christ. He didn’t seek likes, followers, or fame. He sought truth, beauty, and holiness and he shared it through the language his peers understood and that was technology. Each of us has a gift and language we understand best. How are we using it to share the truth and hope?

As he once noted, “Everyone is born an original, but many die as photocopies.” His encouragement to live authentically, not conformed to passing trends but grounded in eternal truths, resonates deeply with young people struggling to find purpose and identity in this digital world.

Of course we see him as a Saint for the Digital Generation. Carlo’s beatification was in 2020 and the upcoming canonization marks him as the first millennial saint, a powerful moment for the Church and a hopeful sign for young people everywhere. He shows us that sanctity isn’t reserved for those who retreat from the world, but is possible in the heart of modern life.

We know he created online exhibits before virtual museums became common, gamified his acts of charity by setting “spiritual goals,” and inspired classmates and adults alike with his joy, generosity, and inner discipline. He limited himself to one hour of video games per week, not out of scrupulosity, but to ensure nothing took precedence over his relationship with God, something we all need to learn from in our lives today that by living a joyful, integrated faith Carlo’s life is a gentle challenge to all of us, not to reject the modern world, but to sanctify it. He didn’t demonize technology, he baptized it. He didn’t run from modern culture, he entered it with purpose. A strong point for us to ponder.

Now for students, gamers, coders, and creatives, and those who embrace digital media for ministry, Carlo’s story is a reminder that God is not distant from their passions. Whether you’re building an app, curating a playlist, streaming a game, or sharing a post, your faith can breathe meaning into it all.

You can be part of the people moving his legacy forward. So as people travel to Rome this weekend and as churches around the globe honor his canonization with exhibits, caring from the currently concluded jubilee of the youth more should be done in things like prayer rallies, youth festivals integrating faith, and Eucharistic adoration in so doing Carlo’s story will continue to touch hearts and his life challenges us to ask questions like;

1. How do I use technology?
2. What story am I telling with my interests and hobbies?
3. Is my faith visible in how I live my digital and offline life?

Let us keep in mind that Carlo’s legacy is not nostalgia for a past era, it’s a call to live fully, faithfully, and joyfully today. He bridges the gap between a timeless Gospel and a fast-paced, ever-changing world. For young people seeking direction, his life is a signpost that says: You can be holy. You can be real. You can change the world.

May St. Carlo Acutis, pray for us. May his example help us bring Christ into every corner of our lives, even the digital ones. Mass at Santa Maria Maggiore where the Body of Blessed Carlos rests in Assisi