On November 20, 2024, Pope Francis announced that he would canonize Blessed Carlo Acutis on April 27, 2025, during the Jubilee for Teenagers in Rome taking place April 25-27.

On the day of his canonization in Rome, a new film about the life of Blessed Carlo will be shown in movie theatres across the country. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is encouraging dioceses around the country to promote the film, especially to youth.  Once the first 5,000 tickets are sold, the film has been guaranteed an additional three days in theaters.  All proceeds of this film will greatly benefit causes for youth, further spread the message of Saint Carlo, and help fund future National Eucharistic Congresses.

During a meeting last May with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for Saints' Causes, the pope signed decrees advancing the sainthood causes of Blessed Carlo, as well as one woman and six men. 

Blessed Carlo was born and baptized in London to Italian parents in 1991, but the family moved back to Milan, Italy, while he was still an infant. After he started high school, he began to curate, create, or design websites, including one for a local parish, his Jesuit-run high school, and the Pontifical Academy of Martyrs. 

He also used his computer skills to create an online database of Eucharistic miracles around the world. He was devoted to Our Lady, praying the rosary every day, and to the Eucharist. "The Eucharist is the highway to heaven," he wrote. When people sit in the sun, they get tan, "but when they sit before Eucharistic Jesus, they become saints." Blessed Carlo died of cancer in 2006 at the age of 15,

The film will be shown in our area, including:

• AMC Veterans 24, Tampa
• AMC Riverview 14 in Gibsonton
• AMC Woodlands Square, Oldsmar
• Regal Park Place, Pinellas Park
• Regal Largo Mall, Largo
• Regal Hollywood, Port Richey

Locations and advance ticket sales are available at www.carloacutisfilm.com.

About the Second Miracle

The miracle Pope Francis recognized on May 23 that paved the way for the blessed's canonization involved a young woman who was born in Costa Rica in 2001 and moved to Florence in 2018 to study.

The woman fell from her bicycle at 4 a.m. July 2, 2022, and suffered a serious head injury, according to the dicastery website. Even after emergency surgery removing part of her skull to reduce severe intracranial pressure, doctors warned her family she could die at any moment.

An associate of the young woman's mother began praying to Blessed Acutis the same day, and the mother went to Assisi and prayed at the blessed's tomb on July 8 -- the same day the young woman began to breathe on her own again. She slowly recovered basic mobility and a CT scan showed the hemorrhage was gone. After a period of rehabilitation therapy and a complete recovery, she and her mother visited his tomb on Sept. 2.