Patron Saint of Gamers? Gamer Now a Step Closer to Becoming Saint
Carlo Acutis died of leukemia in 2006. He was 15 years old. Among his favorite activities were going to mass every day, receiving communion, and playing video games.
He used to own a Playstation, and even before TikTok became popular, posted videos of himself goofing around with his dogs while pretending to talk for them. Acutis was an “influencer” way before the term was invented.
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Acutis is one of the few modern-day saints in the Catholic Church, and certainly, the only one pictured wearing jeans, sneakers, and a sweater (as opposed to cloaks or cassocks).
“For the first time in history, we will see a saint dressed in jeans, sneakers, and a sweater,” said Fr. Carlos Acácio Gonçalves Ferreira, the rector of the shrine where Carlo’s tomb is located.
On October 1, the Diocese of Assisi opened the tomb of Acutis, so that the public may view his perfectly preserved remains ahead of his beatification on October 10.
Pope Francis approved Acutis’ beatification or being declared “blessed” in February, thanks to a miracle attributed to him, the healing of a young Brazilian boy afflicted with a rare congenital disease of the pancreas. Beatification is the step prior to canonization or being declared a saint in the Catholic Church.
No, Carlo Acutis’ Body is Not Incorrupt
Contrary to what some posts on social media are saying, the body of Acutis is not considered by the Church as incorrupt because it is decaying.
Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino of Assisi said at a Mass at the opening of the tomb on October 1: “Today we … see him again in his mortal body. A body that has passed, in the years of burial in Assisi, through the normal process of decay, which is the legacy of the human condition after sin has removed it from God, the source of life. But this mortal body is destined for resurrection.”
Sorrentino explained that Acutis’ body was “reassembled with art and love.”
Further, a spokesperson for Acutis’ beatification told the Catholic News Agency that the entire body was present, but “not incorrupt.”
So, how holy was Carlo Acutis?
Pretty holy.
As a young boy, Acutis would ask his family to stop by a church whenever there was a chance. His family had no idea where he got this devotion because they never went to church themselves and were not religious.
Acutis was also obsessed with Eucharistic miracles and would ask his parents to take him to the historic sites where some of these miracles occurred.
He also dragged his mother into learning to pray the rosary every day.
As a teenager, the young gamer also developed a website that catalogs all the Eucharistic miracles that happened around the world.
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What would Carlo Acutis say to gamers today?
For starters, you won’t go to hell just because you’re a gamer.
If he were alive today, he would probably advise gamers to continue playing, but make sure to set aside time for other things.
Although he was an avid gamer, Acutis limited his playtime to one hour a week so he can balance it with other activities.
