Blesseds Carlo Acutis and Olinto Marella Are Perfect Patrons for Today

National Catholic Register, 12 October 2020

Two new beati, both Italians, have much to teach us.

The past week gave us two new beati, both Italians, one very elderly and one astonishingly young — both evangelists who can serve as much-needed patrons for particular problems today.

The more famous of the two, Carlo Acutis, was beatified Oct. 10 in Assisi, where he is buried, and his feast is observed on Oct. 12, the date of his death in 2006. 

Only 15 when he died, Blessed Carlo was born in 1991 in England and moved to Milan as an infant. The Acutis family was affluent, but riches were not in this case an obstacle to piety. Carlo had a deep devotion to the Eucharist, desiring to go to daily Mass following his first Holy Communion. He was attracted to technology and computer programming and developed a website that served as an online catalogue of Eucharistic miracles. Diagnosed with leukemia as a teenager, he offered his sufferings for the Church and the Holy Father. His faith was not shaken by the terminal illness; rather, he looked forward to meeting Jesus at his death. 

In many ways Carlo is a fitting saint for today, especially for teenagers in affluent families. He did not waste his life in excessive recreation, and he was able to use current technology for holy purposes rather than wicked ones.

At a time when all teenagers are seemingly corrupted — ranging from exposure to addiction — by online gossip, slander, vanity, bullying, rudeness, consumerism and pornography, Carlo’s use of the internet to promote Eucharistic devotion makes him an urgently needed model and intercessor. Many consider him a suitable patron for the use of the internet. 

He was an ardent pilgrim, visiting Assisi so often with his family that he asked to be buried there. Given the importance of pilgrimages to youth ministry — local, but also national (March for Life) and global (World Youth Days) — Carlo lived his life of discipleship like many of his contemporaries. Expect to see Blessed Carlo as a patron of the next World Youth Day in Lisbon.

Father Olinto Marella was beatified in Bologna on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, just a few days before Blessed Carlo. In contrast to the young Carlo, he was ancient of days, dying in 1969 at the age of 87. With his long beard and heart for the poor and sick, he had a bit of Padre Pio, his contemporary who died in 1968, in him. 

Blessed Olinto was born into a prominent family in 1882. An uncle was an archbishop who saw to his education and priestly formation. He was sent to Rome to study, where his classmate was Angelo Roncalli, the future Pope St. John XXIII. After ordination in 1904, Father Marella was given various teaching posts due to his academic brilliance. 

Only five years after his ordination, disaster struck. In 1909, he was suspended from all priestly ministry and had to find secular teaching jobs. His offense? He continued to associate with Father Romolo Murri, a priest who was a political activist. Father Murri had been excommunicated, and Blessed Olinto welcomed his friend into his home. That was considered an act of defiance of ecclesiastical authority that made Olinto himself suspect. 

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