Twenty years after Carlo Acutis’s death, his mother, Antonia Salzano, once again recounts the life of a teenager who knew how to turn faith into an everyday choice without giving up friendships, school, or the passions typical of his age. On Friday, October 23, at 7 p.m., Salzano will be the featured speaker in Rome at a meeting titled “Don’t Waste Your Life on Useless Things,” to be held at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Prati and organized by Fr. Walter Insero.
The event, promoted by the parish on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of Carlo’s death, will offer an opportunity to revisit the life of the young man canonized by Leo XIV on September 7, 2025. Carlo died of leukemia on October 12, 2006, at just fifteen years old. After a greeting from the parish priest, Fr. Gianpiero Antonicelli, Fr. Insero will converse with Antonia Salzano, reconstructing through her memories her son’s human and spiritual journey: his childhood, family life, love for the Eucharist, and care for the poor and the most vulnerable.
Part of the evening will be dedicated directly to young people, who will be able to ask questions to the saint’s mother. The goal is to show how Carlo’s testimony continues to speak to new generations, especially at a time when technology and social media occupy a growing space in daily life. Acutis had intuited the potential of the Internet as a tool for evangelization, using his computer skills to spread religious content and document Eucharistic miracles.
The twentieth anniversary of his death also coincides with the arrival in theaters of the documentary “Carlo Acutis: The Young Saint,” distributed from October 15 to 21 and the first event in the “Mysteries of Faith” series, promoted by Nexo Studios. Directed by Luca Salmaso and produced by Officina della Comunicazione, Nexo Studios, and Our Films, the film reconstructs Carlo’s brief existence through photographs, private videos, unpublished materials, and images of the canonization produced by Vatican Media.
Alongside his parents, Antonia Salzano and Andrea Acutis, appear testimonies from his grandmother Luana Pennino, the household employee Rajesh Mohur, childhood friends Mattia and Jacopo Pastorelli, teacher Elisa Tattanelli, and Dr. Momcilo Jankovic, who accompanied him in his final days. What emerges is the portrait of a young man who lived only fifteen years, yet whose figure continues to attract attention far beyond the Catholic world.
Context and relevance
Carlo’s message, summed up in the invitation not to waste life on useless things, remains particularly timely for a generation immersed in the digital world, to which Carlo seems to recall that technology can multiply the possibilities of communication but cannot replace the search for meaning in one’s own existence. The canonization by Leo XIV on September 7, 2025, constitutes the Church’s official recognition, while the meeting in Rome and the documentary serve as occasions to deepen understanding of his testimony and the devotion he inspires.
Original source: www.ilmessaggero.it (published October 21, 2026)
