catholicweekly.com.au 4 NEWS 18, October, 2020 IN EARLY October along the pristine medieval streets of As- sisi, a city ubiquitous with ref- erences to St Francis, posters bore the image of a different modern saint-in-the-making: Carlo Acutis, a 15-year-old Ital- ian tech whiz. Before his death from leu- kaemia in 2006, Acutis was an average teen with an above-av- erage knack for computers. He put that knowledge to use by creating an online database of eucharistic miracles around the world. For Acutis’ mother, Antonia Salzano, the heartbreak that all parents experience over the loss of a child has been mingled with serenity and joy as she prepared to see her son beatified on 10 October at the Basilica of St Francis. “It’s unusual for parents to (be present at) the beatifica- tion of their son or daughter,” Salzano told Catholic News Service on 9 October. “It’s very unusual because normally it takes a long time. But instead, for Carlo it took 14 years tohave the beatification.” Acutis’ beatification, she said, is “an important step for us because we have so many devotees of Carlo all around Carlo’s still close: mum Antonia Salzano, mother of Blessed Carlo Acutis, is pictured after an interview in Assisi, Italy, on 9 October. PHOTO: CNS, JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVEZ the world. I think it’s a big sign for them, a great consolation.” “It’s very, very important that we have this recognition from the church,” Salzano add- ed. As part of the sainthood process, Acutis’ body was ex- humed and transferred to a place suitable for public vener- ation, the Shrine of the Renun- ciationat theChurchof StMary Major in Assisi. Placed in a glass case, his body was dressed in jeans and a track suit jacket – the attire he was accustomed to wearing andwhat is seen inmany of the photos taken of him during his life. The lifelike silicone mask placed on his face also sparked a debate as to whether the teen’s remains were incorrupt, prompting the Diocese of Assi- si to issue a statement on 1 Oc- tober that his face and hands were reconstructed in order to exhibit his remains “with dig- nity for the veneration of the faithful.” Acutis’ body, Salzano told CNS, “was found intact. We cannot say incorrupt because the bishop doesn’t like it, be- cause he says the only (ones who are) incorrupt are Jesus and the VirginMary.” “Intact means that the body Hampers of help THE ORDER of Malta in Australia is organising a Christmas Hamper pro- gram with funds to go to- ward communities that are recovering from the 2019-2020 bushfires such as in Mogo - a histor- ic gold rush era town in NSW. The Order has been supporting impacted communities not only with an initial emergen- cy response but longer- term recovery efforts. The bushfire season not only destroyed homes but business premises and means of livelihood The Global Covid-19 pandemic and restriction of travel has further hin- dered the rehabilitation efforts with many small local businesses strug- gling following travel re- strictions. Hampers cost $69.95 with a $12 shipping fee Australia wide and will be dispatched from 1 November onwards. To order visit https://shop. orderofmalta.org.au/ shop/merchandise/2 In brief was like it was when he died. The only thing is that the skin became a little bit darker. For example, if you go to visit the body of St Rita in Cascia or St Catherine in Bologna,” a 15th-century Poor Clare whose body is believed to be miracu- lously incorrupt, “you see that the body is intact but the skin is darker,” Salzano explained. She also said that his organs also were found intact and his heart was removed and placed in a reliquary that will be dis- played at the beatification Mass. While looking at his body makes it seem almost like he is still alive, Salzano told CNS she didn’t have “a particular reac- tion” to seeing his body again because she feels she has “ a real, spiritual relationship with my son.” “He makes himself very much close to me. He gives a lot of signs. Sometimes I dream of Carlo, sometimes I hear in- spiration. And, also, he gives a lot of signs to a lot of people around the world. I mean, I don’t really feel the lack of Car- lo because he’s a silent pres- ence, but he makes himself heard through many people,” she said. In his exhortation on young people, Christus Vivit (Christ Lives), Pope Francis said Acutis was a role model for young people today who are often tempted by the traps of “self-absorption, isolation and empty pleasure.” While Carlo created dig- ital content when YouTube and Facebook were in their infancy, his life and example remain relevant in today’s fast paced age of social networking, Salzano said. One of Acutis’ most famous quotes, cited by the pope in his exhortation, was, “We are all born original, but many die as photocopies.” “I think that Carlo was a bit of a prophet of his time,” she said. “Because, of course, a saint is somebody who goes a little bit against the main- stream, the mentality of most people.” Carlo also worried that of- ten-obsessive reverence for movie and music stars were becoming “a sort of idolatry,” she said. “Carlo used to say, ‘You see queues in front of a football match or an actor or rock sing- er, but you don’t see a queue for the tabernacle where there is the real presence of God, God that lives among us.’” As someone dedicated to the “good side” of the internet, Acutis’ beatification during the coronavirus pandemic, in which many must follow the beatification online instead of traveling to Assisi, “is a little bit of sign,” she said. “I must say that the inter- net is incredible. It’s a gift. Of course, the internet has a dark side” when misused for por- nography, bullying and selling drugs, Salzano told CNS. “But Carlo showed the good side of internet. And we know that the light is stronger than the darkness.” Carlo, she said, “is an influ- encer for God.” - CNS catholicsuper.com.au We’re here to help you For 10% off online orders use the code: MIRROROFJUSTICE SAINTCARDS.COM F or more info email:
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