[ mid-tempo music plays ]
♪♪
-This episode of "the saints"
Is about a young man named carlo acutis,
Who died in 2006 at the age of 15
And who was just declared a saint
Of the roman catholic church.
When we planned and shot the episode,
Carlo's official canonization had yet to happen.
The ceremony was supposed to take place
In the spring of 2025,
But it was postponed due to the death of pope francis
And the election of pope leo.
But long before carlo was canonized,
He was a renowned and beloved figure.
Hundreds of thousands of people
Have made the pilgrimage to the site of his remains in assisi.
In many ways, the life of the so-called
"influencer saint" wasn't so unusual.
There was just one key difference...
He believed.
And he lived his belief, right to the end.
Now, the story of st. Carlo acutis.
♪♪
♪ fa la la la la, la la la la ♪
♪ don we now our gay apparel ♪
♪ fa la la... ♪
-It's just too late for a boy your age.
-I wish I could go.
-When you're older. Give me a kiss.
-But I'm not tired!
-Merry christmas, my son.
-Merry christmas, dad.
-Sleep well.
Merry christmas to you, beata.
-Merry christmas to you, sir.
-Carlo acutis was born in 1991 to a family in milan.
When he was young,
He had a nanny from poland named beata sperczynska,
Who played an important role in his life.
-Hey.
You don't need to go to midnight mass
In a big, famous cathedral to celebrate christmas.
-But they get to.
If you weren't taking care of me, you would go, too, right?
-Yes, but I'm celebrating christmas now, with you.
And I'm feeling it within my heart.
What do you imagine it is, to celebrate christmas?
-To celebrate the birthday of jesus christ.
-[ laughing ] yes. -Why you are laughing at me?
I'm not laughing at you, malutki.
Maybe you're right.
Maybe it is a great birthday celebration.
-Is there a party somewhere?
Maybe they go to midnight mass because there's a party?
-No, it's more than just a party.
It's worship, you know?
Which means we devote ourselves to giving thanks
For the birth of jesus christ,
The birth of forgiveness, redemption...
And the greatest love.
-What is "redemption"?
-Being forgiven by god.
Washed clean... Within your heart,
To know that you will be redeemed from all sins
When you accept jesus into your heart...
To know that anything can be forgiven by god.
That's the gift that god gave us with jesus,
Born to the greatest and the purest of his creatures,
The one without sin.
Mary?
-Yes, of course, our beloved.
Tonight was the birth of her son,
And it was the birth of god's love into this earth.
Wherever we are, whatever we are doing,
We can still pray to the blessed virgin and to god
For giving us this gift.
Ceremonies are beautiful, but we don't need them.
What is sin?
Sorry. I'm sorry.
Sorry, what did I say?
Malutki... What can I say to you?
Sin is...
-You're scared of sin?
-No. There's just so much of it in this world.
And within all of us, I suppose.
That's why I pray to god every day, throughout the day.
-Sometimes I see you with beads around your fingers,
And you're singing.
-Yes. I'm chanting.
-Is that praying?
-Yes, malutki. It is.
-Will you do it now, with me?
-Yes, I will.
Give me your hand.
♪♪
[ singing in polish ]
[ singing continues ]
Amen, malutki.
♪♪
-Shh!
♪♪
[ indistinct whispering ]
♪♪
-He was born into a world that was becoming more
And more secularized.
And carlo's parents weren't particularly devout.
So, what was it that sparked his faith?
-The body of christ -amen.
♪♪
-The body of christ.
-He asked his parents if he could receive
His first communion at the age of seven.
-I want to be one with jesus, for all time,
For my whole life.
-I'm not gonna say yes because it's too much. That's why.
-After beata left, carlo had a new au pair...
-The hospital in izmit is besieged,
But it is also practically closed.
All they can offer here is...
-...A hindu man of the brahmin caste named rajesh mohur.
-...Showed me the empty wards cleared out...
-Like many of the other adults around him,
Rajesh was immediately moved by carlo's faith.
-No, no. Listen to me. It's not a question of...
-...Suburbs...Hundreds of people are left alone.
A single bulldozer arrived this morning.
They literally pull at the rubble with their bare hands.
Six people known to be trapped in this building.
There are ten others like it.
As they mourn the loss of one they had freed,
His wife was being carefully pulled...
-Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord.
Hosanna in the highest...
Through jesus christ, your son, our lord.
-In many ways, he lived the same kind of life as other kids.
-Go, go, go, go, go!
♪♪
-Very simple. Over here.
♪♪
[ children laughing ]
♪♪
-Carlo! Come on!
♪♪
-Whoo-hoo!
♪♪
-Whoa!
-Hello!
-Stop with this noise!
-Wow! -I want to sleep!
-Yeah, sorry. -Go away!
-Yeah, sorry. We are...
-Go! -Bye! Sorry, grandma.
-Sorry. Run! -Bye!
-Assholes!
-Sorry!
♪♪
-And like many teenagers,
He became obsessively focused on one thing.
♪♪
-Ah!
-Ta-da!
Yeah? You like it?
-Unlike many teenagers,
Carlo never discarded his faith out of embarrassment.
He went deeper.
♪♪
-[ crying ]
♪♪
-I'll fix it. Don't worry. Bye.
♪♪
Ciao!
♪♪
-Carlo and his family spent their summers in assisi...
...The home of st. Francis and st. Chiara.
It was the place he loved most in the world.
-I have something for you.
I'm joking. It's for me.
Mm!
Whoo-hoo!
Good boy!
♪♪
God bless you.
♪♪
God bless you.
[ baby coos ]
♪♪
God bless you.
-At which point do we see the real beginnings
Of the unification?
So, what was the real event that started this movement?
[ clears throat ]
Excuse me, mr. Acutis.
Did you have something you wanted to contribute?
-Um, about what?
-The origins of the unification.
-Um... -Garibaldi...Garibaldi.
-Garibaldi. -[ students laugh ]
-Very wild guess.
-Thank you. -[ laughter ]
-Okay, quiet down.
From the beginning... Books out, page 13, please.
-Good morning, princess! -Page 13, please!
[ indistinct chatter ]
-It was a crazy night. She is the guilty party.
The one who led me into a night of...
Um...
What did the chaplain call it last week?
What was that word?
-Ribaldry. -Yeah.
It was a night of ribaldry.
-It wasn't the chaplain.
It was the friar from brothers of the sacred heart
Who picked up the food
We collected for the feast day of st. Bonaventure.
-Why was the priest talking about ribaldry?
-Who knows?
-Friar. It was the friar.
[ sighs ]
You look terrible.
-Yeah, I feel like shit.
-So, did you feel her up?
-Man. I fucked her, right?
And she was so into it, and it was so worth it.
-Was it?
-Sure.
-Why? How?
-Man, what-what do you want from me?
It was fun, right?
-Good. Yeah.
-What?
Everybody had a blast.
-Did they?
-Okay. What are you, my mother?
-No, I'm your friend, of course. -But you're disciplining me.
-No, I'm not. -Yeah, looking down on me.
-No, I'm not, okay? -Yeah, you are.
What, do you want to... To give me a time-out?
-You are judging us.
-I'm not, okay?
-Look, you might not like to go to parties and stuff like that,
But you can't get down on other people who do.
-Yeah, I'm not getting down on him.
I won't apologize.
Don't do that to yourself. That's all.
-Well, okay.
Should I say thank you?
-I don't want you to say anything.
Take care of yourself.
♪♪
[ keyboard clacking ]
♪♪
-The body of christ.
-Transubstantiation, the bells.
[ bell rings ]
-The body of christ...
-The moment when time stops...
[ bell rings ]
-The body of christ.
-...When the bread and the wine...
[ bell rings ]
...Become the body and blood of christ.
Carlo started creating a website
That compiled the stories of every eucharistic miracle.
It became his life's work...
♪♪
...One story after another,
Of miracles made possible by the eucharist.
♪♪
[ alarm beeping ]
[ beeping continues ]
[ school bell rings ]
-[ praying quietly ]
-Carlo, I've been meaning to speak to you.
The brothers and I have noticed that you're exhausted,
Which obviously concerns me.
I must ask how much sleep you are getting.
-Not much, father... But enough.
-But enough for what?
-To work on my website, the one I've told you about.
-Yes.
And I found your website remarkable.
-Yes. The animation isn't finished yet.
I was just sent a packet of information
On several more miracles, but, um...
The ursulines asked me to help them for the website
They're trying to launch, and it's slowed down my work.
They need my help.
-Carlo, what about your schoolwork?
-After this work is finished I, um...
I don't know.
Will it be finished?
I mean, the ursulines, yes.
But, you see, these things are what I must do.
-But so is your schoolwork.
I've been told that you missed an oral presentation in latin.
-Did I?
-And then you come here at the crack of dawn
Every morning of the school week.
-Yes, father. You're right.
-It's early, carlo. And you're so tired.
-Yeah, of course. I come to mass, father.
I have a calling.
-Yes, you've told me.
But to be a priest, you have to study.
-No. I have a calling. I have a calling now.
I have no choice. I need to follow it.
[ school bell rings ]
I have to go, or I'll be late for class.
It's okay.
Thank you.
[ indistinct chatter ]
♪♪
[ keyboard clacking ]
♪♪
-Is that santa chiara?
-Yeah. Her bones are in the crypt.
But she's here, with us.
♪♪
"lord, we recall the memory of santa chiara the virgin.
Through her merits, and following her example,
May we be strengthened in our hope and charity
As we await the glorious resurrection
And the eternal communion with you.
Amen.
-Amen.
♪♪
-Good boy, good boy.
Let's go. Let's go. Come, come.
-Who are these statues?
-He's leone.
-And who's the one standing?
-Ginepro.
He's looking at the stars.
-And who's this guy?
-St. Francis.
[ birds chirping ]
I love to listen to the wind.
-Carlo!
-What?
It's like sailing across the universe.
-I feel like an old man.
-I feel like a newborn baby.
-[ laughs ]
Yeah.
♪♪
Oh.
♪♪
-Carlo? Can I speak to you for a minute?
-Of course you can speak to me.
-I think I'm finding myself so sad, and I don't know why.
Actually, I do know why. I just don't understand.
I went to a party with sophia and anna maria,
The new girl,
And I know you never go to these parties.
-No, I don't.
-You disapprove. -No, I...
I just don't go.
Well, I went and...[ sighs ]
I was talking to this boy. And I liked him.
And I went to an upstairs bedroom with him, and we...
He...
-Okay. You've told me
With what you can't say or won't say.
That's okay.
-Yes.
-Was he kind to you after?
-Uh, sort of. Yes.
But then he just left.
-Not so kind.
-I suppose not.
-Are you worried about being pregnant?
-No, no. That's not it.
I'm not worried. I'm not angry. I'm not depressed. Um...
I'm not anything that I can name.
What am I asking for?
I don't know.
-I can see this harms your soul.
It haunts you.
I've committed a sin, haven't I?
-We are all sinners.
♪♪
I guess that lots of people find me different,
Because I have faith.
But...I'm not going to absolve you.
-I should go to confession?
-Yeah. But don't stop there.
Let that be the beginning.
-The beginning of what?
-Of coming to understand that only you can care for your soul.
It's precious.
[ school bell rings ]
You should visit assisi.
It's my favorite place. You should go there.
-Carlo, you've really never had a girlfriend yourself, have you?
-Chiara...There is only one woman in my life.
♪♪
We can talk any time you want, okay?
-Thank you.
-Bye.
♪♪
[ breathing heavily ]
♪♪
Time...
When life is being lived...
Time is elastic.
It stretches and contracts.
It flows and jumps.
[ panting ]
♪♪
[ breathing heavily ]
♪♪
In the name of the father, of the son, and the holy spirit.
Amen.
[ saying the "our father" in italian ]
Padre nostro, che sei nei cieli,
Sia santificato il tuo nome,
Venga il tuo regno, sia fatta la tua volont,
Come in cielo cosi in terra.
Dacci oggi il nostro pane quotidiano,
E rimetti a noi
I nostri debiti come noi li rimettiamo ai nostri debitori,
E non ci indurre in tentazione, ma liberaci dal male.
Amen.
-Carlo! Carlo, carlo. What's hap-- what's happening?!
Andrea!
-Carlo! Hey, carlo. Hey. -Please help, please!
-Hey, hey, hey, hey. Carlo! I've got him. I've got him.
-Let's bring him into the bed.
-Come on, carlo. Come here. Hey, we are here.
-Come here, come here. -Talk to me.
-Be careful, please! -Call the ambulance.
-Yes. Hello.
-Talk to me. Talk to me, carlo.
-What's going on, my dear? -Yes, yes.
-Talk to me. -Please...
Tell them that I offer my suffering to the world.
-What are you saying, honey?
-Yes, I need an ambulance! We have a young boy here.
He's still awake.
He's bruised. He's very hurt.
Yes, um, via torrati 3.
-Rajesh!
-Please get the ambulance. Please!
-Yes, yes, I'm here. Come on. Come on. Come on.
Come on, yes. Yes, please. Talk to me.
Carlo.
Carlo, stay with me. Stay with me, carlo.
Please, please. Come on.
-Acute promyelocytic leukemia.
More treatable now, but not in 2006.
[ monitor beeping ]
-[ weakly ] I'm feeling good.
[ beeping continues ]
[ knocking on door ]
-He looks better, doesn't he?
[ beeping continues ]
-The pain is excruciating.
And he never says a word.
He always asks about the rest of us.
He's a very special kind of boy, this son of yours.
-Thank you. You're really kind.
[ beeping continues ]
[ sighs ]
-May god bless you, with the help of the holy spirit.
Pax dominus et contibi et cum spiritus sancti. Amen.
The body of christ.
-[ weakly ] amen.
-[ saying the "our father" in italian ]
-Padre nostro, che sei nei cieli,
Sia santificato il tuo nome,
Venga il tuo regno, sia fatta la tua volont,
Come in cielo cosi in terra.
Dacci oggi il nostro pane quotidiano,
E rimetti a noi
I nostri debiti come noi li rimettiamo ai nostri debitori,
Santa maria madre...
Amen.
♪♪
-And then... Time becomes irrelevant.
It ends.
♪♪
-In his very short life, carlo acutis touched people.
He helped them to better their lives.
He comforted some, maybe inspired others.
And he did so through the ether of the internet.
He picked up a tool, mastered it, and used it for good.
There was a youth movement in his image.
There was a push for beatification.
And there were claims of miracles.
Years after his burial, carlo was exhumed.
His face was re-created as a silicone mask,
And his body was put on display behind glass,
In the place he loved most, assisi.
The process is formal.
In 2012, carlo was declared a servant of god.
In 2018, pope francis declared him venerable,
Meaning he had lived a life of heroic virtue,
Knowing that his days on earth would come to an early end.
In 2020, he was beatified.
And on September 7th, 2025, he was canonized.
He is now st. Carlo acutis.
♪♪
-The influencer saint, they call me.
My friends and I would have laughed at that.
What a wondrous thing, to have lived a life.
What a blessing to have breathed the air,
To have walked the hills and the streets,
To have shared my days with other souls...
...Each one precious.
♪♪
I am always with you.
And I'm always watching over you.
♪♪
-It's almost unheard of
For someone to be canonized as quickly as carlo acutis,
Who died at such a young age
With his whole life ahead of him.
But he represents something very special...
A young man who is recognizably a part of our world,
Who we can believe in.
In the years before social media hit the world like a tidal wave,
He used the tools of the internet
To actually help people, many of whom he'd never met.
To put it simply,
St. Carlo was a force for good in this world,
And his presence is bringing a whole a new generation back
In touch with their faith.
♪♪
It's very important for young people in the modern world
To understand that a person of today can be a saint.
This boy was 15 when he died, tragically.
You talk to younger people, they think of saints,
They think of galilee, they think of, you know, st. Patrick.
They think of people way distant past.
But here, what was really interesting
Is to make someone from a very young generation
And say, "look. This can be a model.
This can be something that we could aspire to."
-Well, I think carlo acutis is an amazing saint and
We have to remember that young saints are not a novelty, right?
We have st. Aloysius gonzaga, who died at age 23.
Joan of arc was very young,
And there's clearly a real devotion of carlo acutis,
And it does show, as you were saying, marty,
That you can be holy at a young age.
And one of the things I love...
-With the internet and with the craziness in the world
And the way it's going,
This is what's so important about the lesson of carlo.
-Yeah. And karl rahner, the jesuit theologian,
Said that the saints show us what it means
To be christian in this particular way, right?
And carlo shows us what it means to be, you know,
A millennial saint, so-called.
But one of the things that amazes me
And really delights me is the amount
Of attention and attraction and appeal that he has -- right? --
Among young people.
So, something's going on, and they see in him someone
Whom they can emulate, right?
Someone who was online, someone who did gaming,
Someone who had websites.
-Yeah, yeah, yeah.
-And you don't have to be an old man in a monastery
To be holy or to be a saint.
-Fast canonizations make me nervous.
You rush to judgment.
At the same time, when is the right moment?
Joan of arc had to wait till the 20th century.
-Yes, exactly.
-What's known about him
Is probably what's going to be known about him.
So, the usual hesitation that we got to wait
And see how all this plays out doesn't apply in the same way.
-I think in general it's better to wait, right?
To let the person's life kind of settle down
And us to get perspective.
But there's a great devotion to carlo,
Who's obviously extremely holy.
When I think about the timing, I think about that.
If god wants these things to happen fast,
They happen fast.
-God has presented to him from very early on.
Beata presents christmas in a whole new way to him.
-That's interesting.
-He's not out with the family. They're not out at the party.
"we can have christmas right here."
Then his family decides to summer in assisi.
What better way to present holiness to a person
Who's still being formed, to be in that town?
It's magnetic.
And in a way
That's the rationale for canonizing him so soon.
Because it's through his story
That now god is being presented to others and holiness
Is being presented to a lot of young people.
We're seeing it now.
-And I think he's drawing other people to people
Like francis of assisi.
The millions of young people in the past a couple of years
That have gone to see his tomb are going to see
Francis and clare, as well.
-That's right.
-So, he's introducing people as he did in life to the saints.
-He lies down by that statue of st. Francis,
Like he's basking in the love of this great saint.
I was very moved by, say,
The love with which he spoke to the girl.
She's instantly ashamed. He's speaking with care.
And then at the end,
When the same girl after his death goes and sort of curls up,
I thought those two images of his faith
Is showing this freedom,
But also coming there because he taught her to.
He taught her that.
-That's right.
Carlo's attachment to the eucharist,
The whole idea of receiving the eucharist,
It gives you a spiritual strength
And that emanates with you for quite a while.
-There's a question.
Why was he so obsessed with eucharistic miracles?
I'm like, because he felt transformed by the eucharist.
I loved what he said.
When we take the eucharist, we become a home.
-So, the rallying point is always the eucharist.
It's always that, getting to the eucharist,
Receiving the eucharist.
That's why it's always interesting to me.
So many of very religious people
Existed towards the end of their lives only on the eucharist.
-That's right.
So, a eucharistic miracle would be a miracle
That's associated with the eucharist,
Which is the host that we believe
As catholics becomes jesus' body
And also the wine becomes jesus' blood.
There are miracles that happen with the host,
But they're also miracles
That happen around adoration and people's
Veneration of the eucharist.
And he had a website,
Which is kind of his own 21st- century devotion in a sense,
His way of spreading the good news about this.
And I think it's hard for us to see someone
Who's a 15-year-old and suffering,
But there's also someone who has gone through a very adult,
You know, as it were, experience, right?
So, he's not just this kind of fun-loving teenager.
He's also someone who's suffered,
And I think that's an important part of his whole life.
I think we need to see him in the totality of his life,
Not just this kind of cool guy,
But someone who's really had a tragic end.
One of the images I love is that god raises up saints.
When we needed a saint like francis of assisi,
God raised up francis of assisi.
When we needed a saint like carlo acutis,
God raises this person up for all.
So, I find it very powerful that god has given us this example
And really given youth this example in particular.
-Amen.
♪♪