Who Was Carlo?
A teenager who changed the world with a website and a daily Mass.
Carlo Acutis was born in London on May 3, 1991, and grew up in Milan, Italy. He was a bright, playful boy — passionate about football, animals, and computers — but what set him apart was the remarkable depth of his faith. From a young age, Carlo made daily Mass the anchor of his life. "The Eucharist is my highway to heaven," he once said.
As a gifted self-taught programmer, Carlo channelled his technical skills into something extraordinary: he spent two years building a website cataloguing every verified Eucharistic miracle in the world — 150 events, 6 languages, spread across every continent. He wasn't asked to do it. He just did it. "I don't need to become famous," he said. "I just need to get to heaven."
He was known in his neighbourhood for giving his lunch money to homeless people and buying sleeping bags for those who lived on the streets near his school. He had a gift for befriending children who were left out, and he took his faith seriously without ever making others feel judged.
In October 2006, Carlo was diagnosed with a particularly aggressive form of leukaemia. He died just days later on October 12, aged 15. His last words were characteristic of who he had always been: "I offer all the suffering I will have to suffer for the Lord, for the Pope, and for the Church." He was beatified in 2020, and canonized by Pope Francis on April 27, 2025 — the first millennial to be declared a saint.
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Virtue Connections
What Carlo Teaches Us
Carlo's life is a treasure trove of virtue for the classroom. Each one is concrete, lived, and — crucially — accessible to children. He didn't live in a monastery; he lived in a city, went to school, played video games, and still became a saint.
Humility
Carlo didn't want fame. He refused to be photographed showing off. He gave away his lunch money quietly, without telling anyone.
Love of the Eucharist
Daily Mass wasn't a chore for Carlo — it was the source of everything. He said the Eucharist was his "highway to heaven."
Generosity
He gave his lunch money to the homeless, bought sleeping bags for street people, and always had time for the friendless.
Using Your Gifts for God
Carlo was a gifted programmer. Instead of using tech for entertainment, he used it to spread the faith. A model for every digitally-capable child.
Joy
Carlo was funny, playful, and full of energy. He showed that holiness and happiness aren't opposites — they belong together.
Curriculum Overview
5 Sessions. One Saint. Deep Learning.
This curriculum unit runs across five sessions, each building on the last. The sequence moves from story and context, through Carlo's specific gifts and devotions, to virtue application and personal response.
1
Carlo's World — Who Was He?
Students are introduced to Carlo Acutis through story, key events, and context. Focus: building connection and curiosity.
2
Carlo's Gifts — Technology and Faith
Exploring Carlo's love of computers and how he used his gifts for God — not for fame. Focus: gifts, purpose, and vocation.
3
The Eucharist — Carlo's Anchor
A deeper look at why the Eucharist was central to Carlo's life, and what his Eucharistic miracles project revealed about his faith.
4
Living Like Carlo — Humility & Generosity
Drawing on real stories from Carlo's life to explore what humility and generosity look like in practice — today, for students.
5
What Makes a Saint? — Holiness Today
Students reflect on what holiness looks like in the modern world, and respond personally to Carlo's example. What is their "highway to heaven"?
Age-Differentiated Lesson Plans
Choose Your Year Level
Each session is available in three versions. Same learning outcomes, different depth, vocabulary, and activity types. Select the tab that matches your class.
📚 Years 1–3 · Foundation Level · Story-Based Learning
1
Carlo's World — Who Was He?
Duration: 30–40 minutes
Learning Intention
I can tell my friends one thing about Carlo Acutis and why he is special.
Activities
- Story time (10 min): Read aloud a simplified picture-book style version of Carlo's story. Show images of Milan, a computer, and Carlo's friendly smile.
- Think-Pair-Share (8 min): "What do you think Carlo liked doing? What do you like doing?" Connect Carlo to the children's world.
- Draw Carlo (15 min): Students draw a picture of Carlo doing something he loved. Encourage labelling with simple words.
Reflection Prompt
"Carlo loved God and he loved computers. What is something you love that you could share with God?"
2
Carlo's Gifts
Duration: 30–40 minutes
Learning Intention
I know that God gives everyone special gifts, and I can name one of mine.
Activities
- Carlo's Gift Story (10 min): Tell the story of how Carlo used his computer skills to tell the whole world about Eucharistic miracles.
- Gifts Garden (20 min): Students create a flower or star shape with their name in the centre, and write or draw their special gifts on each petal.
Reflection Prompt
"Carlo used his gift to help people love God more. How could you use your gift to help someone?"
3
The Eucharist — Carlo's Favourite
Duration: 35–45 minutes
Learning Intention
I know that Carlo went to Mass every day because he loved Jesus.
Activities
- Carlo's quote (5 min): Display and discuss in simple terms: "The Eucharist is my highway to heaven."
- What is Mass? (10 min): Simple discussion — what happens at Mass? What do we receive?
- Highway to Heaven artwork (20 min): Students draw "their highway to heaven" — what helps them feel close to God?
4
Sharing Like Carlo
Duration: 30–40 minutes
Learning Intention
I can describe one way Carlo was generous, and one way I can be generous too.
Activities
- Story: Carlo and the homeless man (10 min): Tell the story of Carlo giving his lunch money to people sleeping on the street.
- Generosity scenarios (15 min): Read out simple scenarios — "A friend has no lunch. What would Carlo do? What would you do?"
- Kindness pledge card (10 min): Students decorate a card with one act of kindness they will do this week.
5
Carlo is a Saint!
Duration: 35–45 minutes
Learning Intention
I know that saints are real people who loved God, and I can try to be like Carlo.
Activities
- Celebration introduction (10 min): Carlo was canonized in 2025 — explain what that means in simple terms. The Church says he is in heaven with God!
- Letter to Carlo (20 min): Students write or dictate a short letter to Carlo telling him something about themselves and asking for his help with one thing.
- Class prayer (5 min): Lead the class in a simple prayer to Carlo asking for his intercession.
Reflection Prompt
"Carlo was just a kid, like you. What is one thing you want to remember about him?"
📗 Years 4–6 · Inquiry-Based Learning · Collaborative Tasks
1
Carlo's World — Context and Connection
Duration: 40–50 minutes
Learning Intention
I can describe key events in Carlo Acutis's life and explain what made him remarkable for his age and time.
Activities
- Paired reading (15 min): Students read a biographical extract on Carlo in pairs and highlight three things that surprise them.
- Timeline construction (15 min): Groups create a timeline of Carlo's life — birth, First Communion, the miracles website, diagnosis, death, beatification, canonization.
- Discussion (10 min): "Carlo was born in 1991. What was the world like then? What technology existed? What didn't?"
Key Vocabulary
Beatification · Canonization · Eucharistic miracle · Patron saint · Intercession
2
Carlo's Gifts — Purpose and Vocation
Duration: 45–55 minutes
Learning Intention
I can explain what Carlo's Eucharistic miracles project was and why he created it, and reflect on how my own gifts might be used for others.
Activities
- Carlo's website (15 min): Teacher-led overview of what Carlo actually built — 150 miracles, 6 languages, all self-taught. Discuss: what drove him to do this?
- Gift mapping (20 min): Students identify their own top 3 gifts and brainstorm one way each could be used "for others, not just yourself."
- Sharing circle (10 min): Volunteers share their gift map. Teacher facilitates connection to Carlo's example.
3
The Eucharist — What Carlo Knew
Duration: 45–55 minutes
Learning Intention
I can explain what the Eucharist meant to Carlo and why daily Mass was so central to his life.
Activities
- Quote analysis (10 min): "The Eucharist is my highway to heaven." What does this mean? Discuss the metaphor.
- Eucharistic miracle case study (20 min): Read about one of the Eucharistic miracles Carlo catalogued. What happened? What does it mean for faith?
- Written reflection (15 min): "What is something in your life that functions like Carlo's 'highway to heaven'? What helps you feel close to God?"
4
Humility and Generosity in Practice
Duration: 45–55 minutes
Learning Intention
I can identify examples of humility and generosity in Carlo's life and explain what these virtues look like in my own context.
Activities
- Case study carousel (20 min): Four stations, each with a different story from Carlo's life (giving lunch money, befriending excluded students, not wanting fame, offering his suffering). Groups rotate and identify the virtue shown.
- Virtue journal entry (20 min): "Choose one virtue from Carlo's life. Describe a time you found this hard. What would Carlo have done?"
5
Saints Today — What Does Holiness Look Like?
Duration: 50–60 minutes
Learning Intention
I can describe what holiness might look like in an ordinary modern life, drawing on Carlo's example.
Activities
- Discussion (15 min): "Carlo didn't leave the world to become holy. He stayed in it. What does that mean for us?"
- Personal response project (30 min): Students design a "Holiness in My Life" page — identifying one daily practice, one virtue to grow, and one person they want to love better.
- Prayer (5 min): Class prays together asking Carlo for his intercession.
📘 Years 7–9 · Critical Thinking · Project-Based
1
Carlo Acutis: Context, Canonization, and Controversy
Duration: 50–60 minutes
Learning Intention
I can explain who Carlo Acutis was, outline the canonization process, and articulate why his story resonates (or doesn't) with contemporary young people.
Activities
- Independent reading and annotation (20 min): Students read a detailed profile of Carlo, annotating claims they find surprising, inspiring, or hard to believe.
- Socratic seminar (25 min): "Is Carlo Acutis a credible model of holiness for teenagers in 2025? Why or why not?" Students must use evidence from the text.
- Exit ticket (5 min): One thing you'd like to investigate further about Carlo's life or the canonization process.
Key Concepts
Beatification · Canonization · Miracle verification process · Cult of the saints · Intercession theology
2
Faith and Technology — An Unlikely Marriage?
Duration: 55–65 minutes
Learning Intention
I can critically analyse the relationship between faith and technology in Carlo's life and apply this to contemporary questions about digital life.
Activities
- Case study analysis (20 min): Explore what Carlo's Eucharistic miracles website actually was — its scope, methodology, and reach. What does it reveal about the relationship between faith and evidence?
- Debate setup (30 min): "Technology is more a threat to faith than a tool for it." Students prepare and deliver a structured argument for or against, using Carlo's life as primary evidence.
3
The Eucharist: Real Presence and Real Devotion
Duration: 55–65 minutes
Learning Intention
I can explain the Catholic teaching on Real Presence in the Eucharist and evaluate Carlo's devotion in light of this theology.
Activities
- Theology brief (15 min): Teacher-led overview of Real Presence doctrine — what the Church teaches and why.
- Eucharistic miracle research (25 min): In pairs, students research one Eucharistic miracle from Carlo's catalogue. Prepare a 3-minute summary: what happened, what was tested, what was concluded.
- Reflection writing (15 min): "Carlo called the Eucharist his 'highway to heaven.' Using what you now know about Catholic theology, explain what he meant — and whether you find it compelling."
4
Virtue Ethics — What Would Carlo Do?
Duration: 55–65 minutes
Learning Intention
I can apply virtue ethics to contemporary moral dilemmas, using Carlo Acutis's life as a case study in practical virtue.
Activities
- Introduction to virtue ethics (15 min): Brief overview of Aristotle's virtue ethics and how Aquinas developed it. How does Carlo's life embody this?
- Ethical dilemma workshop (35 min): Groups tackle 4 contemporary moral dilemmas (social media use, peer exclusion, wealth inequality, personal ambition). Using Carlo's virtues as a framework, what would he do — and what should we do?
5
Project: Be an Influencer for God
Duration: 60–75 minutes
Learning Intention
I can design a creative response to Carlo's life that communicates something of lasting value to others.
Project Brief
Carlo used his gifts to spread faith. Your project: using your own gifts, create something that communicates a virtue, a truth, or a story that matters. Choose your format:
- A short film or video (2–3 min)
- A designed social media campaign concept (3–5 posts with rationale)
- A website or app concept with wireframe and purpose statement
- A written piece (article, essay, or open letter — 600–800 words)
Assessment Prompt
Include a 150-word reflection: "How does your project reflect a virtue you've seen in Carlo Acutis's life?"
Feast Day Guide
October 12 — Making It Meaningful
Carlo's feast day falls on October 12 — the anniversary of his death in 2006. In liturgical terms it sits in Ordinary Time, making it easy to fit into the regular school term. Here are some ways to mark it.
Classroom Prayer
Prayer to Saint Carlo Acutis
Blessed Carlo, you used the gifts God gave you
to spread his love to the ends of the earth.
Help us to discover our own gifts
and to use them not for fame or glory,
but for the glory of God and the good of others.
Teach us your joy. Teach us your humility.
Help us to find our own highway to heaven.
Saint Carlo Acutis, pray for us.
Amen.
to spread his love to the ends of the earth.
Help us to discover our own gifts
and to use them not for fame or glory,
but for the glory of God and the good of others.
Teach us your joy. Teach us your humility.
Help us to find our own highway to heaven.
Saint Carlo Acutis, pray for us.
Amen.