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A Millennial in Paradise: Carlo Acutis
In each generation, heroes of the Faith, whom the Church recognizes as saints, emerge. There are many characteristics that they have in common, but none thus far have used cell phones, played PlayStation video games, or searched for information on Google. That is about to change. A young "computer geek" named Carlo Acutis, who created a website cataloguing every reported Eucharistic miracle in the world and died of leukemia a year later at age fifteen, was beatified in November 2019, after a healing miracle in Brazil was attributed to his intercession. Since the beatification ceremony one year later, solemn crowds have been filing past the exposed relics of the blessed youth in Assisi's Church of Santa Maria Maggiore. Carlo is a sign of contradiction in the modern world who serves as a heroic model for today's young people--a teenager who programmed computers and enjoyed films and comics yet lived as an authentic and sincere disciple of Christ. In these pages, you'll discover how he embraced the Faith as a boy and developed the virtues necessary to live a Christ-centered life in a secular society, how he overcame the vices that plagued him, and how he gracefully dealt with heartaches he could not divulge even to his parents. When he developed leukemia, he offered his suffering both for Pope Benedict XVI and for the Catholic Church, "I offer all the suffering I will have to undergo for the Lord, for the Pope, and the Church." In this surprising and inspiring book, you'll also
216 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2019
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June 9, 2021
Who was Carlo Acutis? How was this young man really like? What is his spirituality? How can I live a life like Carlo Acutis? It may seem a bit biased on our blog that in recent months, I have been reviewing books about the life and spirituality of Bl. Carlo Acutis. The first book I reviewed was, Blessed Carlo Acutis – 5 Steps to Being a Saint by Mgr. Anthony Figueiredo, and last month came Carlo Acutis – The Boy Who Knew, a fictional story which recounts the life of Carlo Acutis by Corinna Turner. Today, I am reviewing a title that will be released on June 22, 2021 titled, Carlo Acutis – A Milliennial in Paradise by Fr. Will Conquer. The title was originally published in 2019 in French as Carlo Acutis: Un Geek au Paradis, and now translated into English by James Henri McMurtrie, published by Sophia Institute Press. The reason why I have been reviewing (and will continue to review) books on Bl. Carlo Acutis is because his is a Blessed and hopefully, a Saint for our times and his spirituality is ever so urgent for young people today. As a young adult, his life and spirituality is all the more relevant to me and my peers and as of his beatification last year, there were not many English books on this young man… that is, until now as English titles on the Blessed start to be written, or translated from other languages into English and published in the past months.
A Millennial in Paradise book cover
At first, I thought this was going to be a more biographical read on Carlo Acutis, similar to Eucaristia: La mia autostrada per il cielo. Biografia di Carlo Acutis (which I hope will be translated into English one day… I currently have the Italian version but unfortunately Duolingo is not sufficient in helping me understand the Italian texts!) but rather, it is a mix of a biographical and spiritual sketch of Carlo’s life with even a “nudge” for the reader in their spiritual life. The interesting thing is that there are pictograms that are available that divides the texts into various sections to facilitate the organization of these points: (1) historical events, (2) story from the life of Carlo Acutis, (3) key people in Carlo’s life, (4) a virtue drawn from Carlo’s life, (5) reflection questions, (6) Bible passage and (7) prayer. I think to get a better idea of the book, I will review each of these elements and in the end, tie them all together to how I think it speaks to the life of Carlo Acutis and the particular audience the book is intended for.
Historical Events – Let us recall that Carlo was born in 1991, 30 years ago. For me, that was ten years before my birth. When we read of people’s biography or life stories, how often do we forget to put their life story into the context of the particular time they were living in? Have you ever considered the historical context in which St. Francis of Assisi or St. Ignatius of Loyola lived in when reading about their lives? If you ever read of Carlo Acutis’ life, even just briefly, have you ever considered the historical events and technological advancements that were occurring during the period between 1991-2006? I know personally, until reading this book, I never really considered the historical context in which Carlo lived in. The time Carlo was born in were to say, interesting times. The world was adjusting to what seemed like a new reality in the political sphere, saw new advancements in technology especially in computers… this is the world that the young Carlo lived in. We often say, “Carlo is the first beatified millennial,” but what does that really mean without looking into the historical backdrop of the millennial generation? It is probably with this concern in mind that Fr. Conquer always speaks of the historical context of Carlo’s life in every one of his chapters before speaking of anything specific about Carlo’s life.
Carlo’s Life Story – I don’t know about you, but I always love reading about Carlo Acutis’ life. The main thing is, as I said earlier, I know he was ten years older than me – he was born in 1991, myself in 2001. Carlo’s life story is just so relatable and the more I read about him, the more amiable Carlo is. The more I read his life story and hear anecdotes on his life from his mother in interviews, the more I am exposed to the fact that holiness is for everyone and it is achievable. Yet, it takes courage, commitment and an open mind and heart. We go into our churches and see saints in their habits or old-fashioned clothing and think holiness is that. Saints can be found in the most ordinary of people like Carlo who had a sweet tooth, went on vacations, played video games and board games like chess and Monopoly, had good friendships even with girls, and wore ordinary jeans like many teenagers his age.
A point that I think was quite prominent in this book was the fact that Carlo was a single child. Being a brother with a younger sister, I honestly never really took into consideration the fact of Carlo being a single child had much influence on his life. He certainly had times when was detached from his parents from a young age, and had moments of solitude. But it was because of that “solitude” that he became acquainted to even the household worker of the Acutis family, and the beggars on the street.
It is probably this ordinariness that we see in Carlo and evident in his life story that Fr. Conquer beautifully unfolds in his book, that over 41,000 people came to Assisi to venerate the tomb of the Blessed during the days of celebration of his beatification in October 2020.
Key People – Carlo did not grow up being holy all by himself, but many people have influenced his spiritual formation and vice-versa, he in turn influenced others around him. In Pope Francis’ message for the 53rd World Day of Prayer for Vocations, he said, “Still today, the Christian community is always present in the discernment of vocations, in their formation and in their perseverance (cf. Apost. Ex. Evangelii Gaudium, 107).” In other words, we are influenced by the community, including our family, parish, school and other communities of which we are a part in and that shapes our discernment of our vocation and formation in the spiritual life as well. It is within a community that we receive encouragement to lift us up in hardships and stumbling blocks and thus, for anyone, there are key individuals that assist us in these various aspects of life. I was surprised by the figures featured here because I never knew the influence that these figures had on Carlo. While I have heard much of Rajesh Mohur and the two-way mutual relationship Carlo and Rajesh had on each other’s spiritual formation, I never knew that Carlo’s maternal grandfather or nonno had such profound impact on Carlo. These sections also at times feature the way Carlo had in others, including his peers in school and his friends. These sections serve as a supplement to Carlo’s life story, in order to better understand the life of this young man and the figures that formed him, and which figures were influenced by Carlo.
Virtue – So we hear of the life of a teenager, now what? How can we apply Carlo’s spirituality into our own lives and so, become holy? After reading the historical background of the times Carlo was living in, after reading some biographical episodes and the key people in his life, Fr. Conquer proposes a virtue which we can pull out from a the stories in that chapter. Fr. Conquer goes into this section speaking not only how we can live that virtue but recognizes even the challenges we face in today’s society in living out certain virtues.
Life Questions – Fr. Conquer recognizes in his introduction that these questions are similar to an examination of conscience. Upon reading these questions, I believe they are worth spending time on in prayerful reflection, possibly before the Blessed Sacrament and genuinely look at your own life. What I would suggest: record the answers to these questions in your spiritual notebook. You might want to write in some goals as well for your spiritual life. I heard once that if you write your goal down somewhere in a designated place, your would have a higher chance of actually pursuing such goal. Seven virtues, seven aspects to work on for your spiritual life. Like Carlo, the more you strive to virtuous, then the more of a desire you will have to be holy and that is achieved bit by bit, one virtue at a time.
Bible passage and Prayer – I will speak of these two sections at once because I think they go hand in hand (and they also appear together in the explanation of the sections in the introduction even though the Bible precedes the Life Questions portion in the chapters). Fr. Conquer beautifully weaves his chapter section by section, culminating in the Bible passage and prayer. The Bible passages fit its preceding texts beautifully and prompt further reflection. And like any Catholic act, we end with prayer… there is no better way to end an inspiring chapter than with a prayer of thanksgiving, contrition and resolution.
Piece all these sections together and you get a very well rounded account of the life of Carlo Acutis. The book will not tell you everything about Carlo but I am sure, will inspire you to live better Christian life, maybe a more conscious spiritual life… at least I know I have been inspired in such way. Are you left inspired after reading all seven chapters of the book digging through Carlo’s life? Well, you are not the only one – the end of the book gives you a testimony from someone very close to Carlo – his mother Antonia Acutis Salzano in the form of an interview with Fr. Conquer.
The book is ideal for everyone of any age, but may appeal more, I think, to teen and young adults. It may be read individually, possibly for private prayer. However, I think this book can be more effective if read with a couple friends. I suggest not reading through the book quickly, but rather just one chapter a day. If reading it with a group, one chapter a week, and allow time to discuss and examine oneself, holding each other accountable. This book would be perfect to use in a Catholic men’s group or Catholic women’s group which will spark discussion and conversation about one’s own spiritual life.
This review was based solely on an e-Book review copy of the book. As always, I much prefer a printed book since I like to take notes and record my thoughts and emotions as I read. If the hard copy review copy comes, I will certainly be re-reading the title and offering an update at the end of the post.
But once again, another beautiful english title on Bl. Carlo Acutis and well worth the time reading about a blessed of these times. Bl. Carlo Acutis, pray for us.
To purchase the book in either e-book or paperback from Sophia Institute Press, click here.
Read an interview of Catholic World Report with Fr. Will Conquer, the book’s author here.
Disclaimer: Vincent Pham was provided a review copy of this book to provide an honest review of the title on our blog. The Catholic Man Reviews thanks Sophia Institute Press for the opportunity for us to review this title on our blog. All thoughts and opinions expressed in here are our own and reflect our sincere thoughts about the book.
A Millennial in Paradise book cover
At first, I thought this was going to be a more biographical read on Carlo Acutis, similar to Eucaristia: La mia autostrada per il cielo. Biografia di Carlo Acutis (which I hope will be translated into English one day… I currently have the Italian version but unfortunately Duolingo is not sufficient in helping me understand the Italian texts!) but rather, it is a mix of a biographical and spiritual sketch of Carlo’s life with even a “nudge” for the reader in their spiritual life. The interesting thing is that there are pictograms that are available that divides the texts into various sections to facilitate the organization of these points: (1) historical events, (2) story from the life of Carlo Acutis, (3) key people in Carlo’s life, (4) a virtue drawn from Carlo’s life, (5) reflection questions, (6) Bible passage and (7) prayer. I think to get a better idea of the book, I will review each of these elements and in the end, tie them all together to how I think it speaks to the life of Carlo Acutis and the particular audience the book is intended for.
Historical Events – Let us recall that Carlo was born in 1991, 30 years ago. For me, that was ten years before my birth. When we read of people’s biography or life stories, how often do we forget to put their life story into the context of the particular time they were living in? Have you ever considered the historical context in which St. Francis of Assisi or St. Ignatius of Loyola lived in when reading about their lives? If you ever read of Carlo Acutis’ life, even just briefly, have you ever considered the historical events and technological advancements that were occurring during the period between 1991-2006? I know personally, until reading this book, I never really considered the historical context in which Carlo lived in. The time Carlo was born in were to say, interesting times. The world was adjusting to what seemed like a new reality in the political sphere, saw new advancements in technology especially in computers… this is the world that the young Carlo lived in. We often say, “Carlo is the first beatified millennial,” but what does that really mean without looking into the historical backdrop of the millennial generation? It is probably with this concern in mind that Fr. Conquer always speaks of the historical context of Carlo’s life in every one of his chapters before speaking of anything specific about Carlo’s life.
Carlo’s Life Story – I don’t know about you, but I always love reading about Carlo Acutis’ life. The main thing is, as I said earlier, I know he was ten years older than me – he was born in 1991, myself in 2001. Carlo’s life story is just so relatable and the more I read about him, the more amiable Carlo is. The more I read his life story and hear anecdotes on his life from his mother in interviews, the more I am exposed to the fact that holiness is for everyone and it is achievable. Yet, it takes courage, commitment and an open mind and heart. We go into our churches and see saints in their habits or old-fashioned clothing and think holiness is that. Saints can be found in the most ordinary of people like Carlo who had a sweet tooth, went on vacations, played video games and board games like chess and Monopoly, had good friendships even with girls, and wore ordinary jeans like many teenagers his age.
A point that I think was quite prominent in this book was the fact that Carlo was a single child. Being a brother with a younger sister, I honestly never really took into consideration the fact of Carlo being a single child had much influence on his life. He certainly had times when was detached from his parents from a young age, and had moments of solitude. But it was because of that “solitude” that he became acquainted to even the household worker of the Acutis family, and the beggars on the street.
It is probably this ordinariness that we see in Carlo and evident in his life story that Fr. Conquer beautifully unfolds in his book, that over 41,000 people came to Assisi to venerate the tomb of the Blessed during the days of celebration of his beatification in October 2020.
Key People – Carlo did not grow up being holy all by himself, but many people have influenced his spiritual formation and vice-versa, he in turn influenced others around him. In Pope Francis’ message for the 53rd World Day of Prayer for Vocations, he said, “Still today, the Christian community is always present in the discernment of vocations, in their formation and in their perseverance (cf. Apost. Ex. Evangelii Gaudium, 107).” In other words, we are influenced by the community, including our family, parish, school and other communities of which we are a part in and that shapes our discernment of our vocation and formation in the spiritual life as well. It is within a community that we receive encouragement to lift us up in hardships and stumbling blocks and thus, for anyone, there are key individuals that assist us in these various aspects of life. I was surprised by the figures featured here because I never knew the influence that these figures had on Carlo. While I have heard much of Rajesh Mohur and the two-way mutual relationship Carlo and Rajesh had on each other’s spiritual formation, I never knew that Carlo’s maternal grandfather or nonno had such profound impact on Carlo. These sections also at times feature the way Carlo had in others, including his peers in school and his friends. These sections serve as a supplement to Carlo’s life story, in order to better understand the life of this young man and the figures that formed him, and which figures were influenced by Carlo.
Virtue – So we hear of the life of a teenager, now what? How can we apply Carlo’s spirituality into our own lives and so, become holy? After reading the historical background of the times Carlo was living in, after reading some biographical episodes and the key people in his life, Fr. Conquer proposes a virtue which we can pull out from a the stories in that chapter. Fr. Conquer goes into this section speaking not only how we can live that virtue but recognizes even the challenges we face in today’s society in living out certain virtues.
Life Questions – Fr. Conquer recognizes in his introduction that these questions are similar to an examination of conscience. Upon reading these questions, I believe they are worth spending time on in prayerful reflection, possibly before the Blessed Sacrament and genuinely look at your own life. What I would suggest: record the answers to these questions in your spiritual notebook. You might want to write in some goals as well for your spiritual life. I heard once that if you write your goal down somewhere in a designated place, your would have a higher chance of actually pursuing such goal. Seven virtues, seven aspects to work on for your spiritual life. Like Carlo, the more you strive to virtuous, then the more of a desire you will have to be holy and that is achieved bit by bit, one virtue at a time.
Bible passage and Prayer – I will speak of these two sections at once because I think they go hand in hand (and they also appear together in the explanation of the sections in the introduction even though the Bible precedes the Life Questions portion in the chapters). Fr. Conquer beautifully weaves his chapter section by section, culminating in the Bible passage and prayer. The Bible passages fit its preceding texts beautifully and prompt further reflection. And like any Catholic act, we end with prayer… there is no better way to end an inspiring chapter than with a prayer of thanksgiving, contrition and resolution.
Piece all these sections together and you get a very well rounded account of the life of Carlo Acutis. The book will not tell you everything about Carlo but I am sure, will inspire you to live better Christian life, maybe a more conscious spiritual life… at least I know I have been inspired in such way. Are you left inspired after reading all seven chapters of the book digging through Carlo’s life? Well, you are not the only one – the end of the book gives you a testimony from someone very close to Carlo – his mother Antonia Acutis Salzano in the form of an interview with Fr. Conquer.
The book is ideal for everyone of any age, but may appeal more, I think, to teen and young adults. It may be read individually, possibly for private prayer. However, I think this book can be more effective if read with a couple friends. I suggest not reading through the book quickly, but rather just one chapter a day. If reading it with a group, one chapter a week, and allow time to discuss and examine oneself, holding each other accountable. This book would be perfect to use in a Catholic men’s group or Catholic women’s group which will spark discussion and conversation about one’s own spiritual life.
This review was based solely on an e-Book review copy of the book. As always, I much prefer a printed book since I like to take notes and record my thoughts and emotions as I read. If the hard copy review copy comes, I will certainly be re-reading the title and offering an update at the end of the post.
But once again, another beautiful english title on Bl. Carlo Acutis and well worth the time reading about a blessed of these times. Bl. Carlo Acutis, pray for us.
To purchase the book in either e-book or paperback from Sophia Institute Press, click here.
Read an interview of Catholic World Report with Fr. Will Conquer, the book’s author here.
Disclaimer: Vincent Pham was provided a review copy of this book to provide an honest review of the title on our blog. The Catholic Man Reviews thanks Sophia Institute Press for the opportunity for us to review this title on our blog. All thoughts and opinions expressed in here are our own and reflect our sincere thoughts about the book.
January 26, 2022
This was ok. Geared toward adolescents, but maybe a little patronizing. Maybe a lot? I didn’t know much about him before reading, and I know quite a bit more now. But I’m not sure if I will bother to even have my middle schoolers read it.
February 23, 2022
Love his story- very inspiring!
Read
August 10, 2023not gonna rate it because i read it for school but overall the story was really inspirational and interesting. carlo's definitely an amazing role model for kids my age especially. i do think that the chapters were pretty repetitive which was a little boring in the beginning + the historic/ religious references went right over my head so that's annoying too. overall though it wasn't bad at all and I'm glad for that lol. personally, i prefer longer chapters but for this kind of book the shorter chapters were also really nice.
June 13, 2025
This is a thought provoking biography of Carlo Acutis, a young boy born in 1991 who grew up in the computer age, played video games, used a cell phone, searched on google and can best be described as a computer geek. Yet in spite of growing up in a highly secularized society he loved Christ, attended daily Mass in order to receive the Eucharist, and became a catechist at age twelve. He was still a typical child, however, who enjoyed playing with is peers and as he grew older became a friend and confidante to all. Pictograms depicting historical events, biographical elements, the key people in his life, and more help the reader navigate through the text. Carlo died at age fifteen. Hundreds attended his funeral, teens and adults alike and thousands continue to visit the place of his burial. Carlo will be canonized a saint by the Catholic Church later this year.
January 19, 2023
Carlos Acutis was an ordinary boy with an extraordinary soul. He had parents who had careers with developing spiritual journeys and attribute their closeness to Christ to Carlos. Carlos went to school, had many friends, played video games and board games with his friends, enjoyed to travel, and enjoyed his computer. He also learned temperance, patience, and sacrifice and desired to give glory to God. I read this to my children during Morning Time and we learned of this holy millennial and how a single child with parents of affluent means can still live a life of goodness, beauty and holiness.
February 18, 2023
I feel like this was a great opportunity for someone to tell the story of Carlo Acutis, and to inspire young people. Although the story of his life was full of inspiration, it was really difficult to gain that from this book. The writing was very disjointed and lacked substance. The story of Carlos ‘s life was told in snippets and out of order, often referring to different points of his life with minimal depth. The opportunity to connect with this holy person was lost because of the superficial manner in which his story is told.
July 13, 2022
Great book! I learned a lot about Carlo and his life.
Because Carlo Acutis was 15 when he died, I think this book is aimed at that age group or younger, which I think is good since kids that age can read and relate to him more.
Because it was aimed at younger teenagers, I did enjoy it and learned from it, but I'd love to read a book about Carlo for adults.
Because Carlo Acutis was 15 when he died, I think this book is aimed at that age group or younger, which I think is good since kids that age can read and relate to him more.
Because it was aimed at younger teenagers, I did enjoy it and learned from it, but I'd love to read a book about Carlo for adults.
January 15, 2024
Overall, interesting and inspiring facts about blessed Carlos’s life. It is written for teenagers though and sometimes is a little too preachy of a tone. Sometimes the history tie-ins are a little strained too. But I enjoyed it overall. Easy and interesting read.
May 23, 2025
I was interested to learn about Carlo Acutis, but the writing in this book was pretty poor quality. There were many grammatical/typographical errors and lots of floaty vague language. The content was alright, but it was not a quality book.
March 29, 2022
Rated—G (my personal opinion based on content)
Read
April 6, 2022Book too simple. I didn't enjoy it.
April 13, 2022
increíble
Realmente un libro excelente, didáctico y dinámico que muestra la vida de este joven santo. Un muchacho que supo seguir al Señor Jesús hasta el último
Realmente un libro excelente, didáctico y dinámico que muestra la vida de este joven santo. Un muchacho que supo seguir al Señor Jesús hasta el último
November 6, 2022
I love the story of Blessed Carlo and learned so much but I REALLY struggled with the writing style of this book. There were so many tangential stories that didn’t really connect.
December 18, 2022
I love this saint and I’m glad someone wrote this, but sadly, it just isn’t strong writing. Much of it was speculative and reflective, instead of focusing on the true facts of Carlo’s life.
October 10, 2023
The story is great, but the telling seems to have been muddled in the translation. Sometimes it seems the author forgets his audience, which generally seems to be teens.
May 8, 2022
the writing was a little cheesy and definitely geared towards a young crowd. it was so cool to read about a blessed who was born only four years before me. i don’t think this book did him justice
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews