Antonia Acutis, the mother of soon-to-be canonized Blessed Carlo Acutis, gave a talk at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City on Thursday.

The computer-savvy teen who died of cancer at the age of 15 in 2006 is seen as an example for today’s youth given his wise discretion when it came to technology and also his intense Eucharistic devotion.

Before his death, Pope Francis recognized a miracle attributed to the intercession of Carlo, and the canonization date for the first millennial saint was set for April 27. The passing of Francis has postponed the canonization for now. 

The Register spoke with Antonia Acutis on the same day as her New York City appearance about the advice Carlo would have in light of modern challenges related to technology and faith, especially for youth.

 

Pope Leo XIV has spoken about the challenge of artificial intelligence. How can we safeguard the dignity of the human person in front of technology?

Surely it is a challenge, as in the times when industrialization was a challenge, or when the invention of the light bulb was a challenge. But I believe that man was made in the image and likeness of God. We, potentially, have infinite resources because we have Christ who sustains us. Therefore, he who is near Christ should not fear anything. Artificial intelligence is a means, but if man uses this for the good, it can help and it can be one more resource.

I believe that, obviously, where there is a great deal of good, there can also be the potential for bad. The problem is when we allow evil to gain the upper hand. We see this with the internet, which is potentially something extraordinary. You can really get anywhere on the internet in one second. But there is a dark side to it, as we know: pornography, for example, or criminal organizations that deceive people and steal their money. This is evil. Where there is wheat, there are also the weeds.

But the more people are close to Christ, the more they are transformed by Christ, the more that the good will be victorious.

We need to understand that without Christ, we cannot do anything. If man understands this, he is on the road to sanctity. But it is difficult, at times, to understand this because man deceives himself and thinks he can do without Him. 

If the Church can, within this challenge of AI, see that Christ is in the midst of us — that in the Eucharist, God is among us — nothing should worry us because Christ always wins.

 

During the Jubilee of Teenagers, I saw many young people in Rome wearing T-shirts with the image of Carlo on them. How do you explain this attraction that young people from around the world have to Carlo?

Surely Carlo was a work of God, in the sense that, through Carlo, the Lord is calling many young people. 

What is important is to help young people understand that they are called to be saints. Carlo is a friend of theirs, whom they feel close to, a person who in his ordinariness was able to transform his life into something extraordinary. When Christ is the center, everything becomes extraordinary. Life becomes transfigured.

 

What is the role of parents and mentors of young people?

Young people are like a Stradivarius violin. A violin must be played by someone who knows how to play. If you don’t know how to play it, the sounds are strident. We adults have the task of making music with these Stradivariuses that we have because they are creatures of God made in his image: special, unique and unrepeatable. 

The challenge is to make young people understand that they are loved infinitely by God, that they are special, that they have dignity and their lives are important.

It is important that young people not to forget their Creator. They need to understand that in the world, there exists as an “Otherness” to which we must refer to. We cannot live closed up within ourselves. And this means opening ourselves up to love, to life, to others — because the most important thing is love. Jesus says this: We must love God above all things and our neighbor as ourselves.

We must teach young people about the virtues, to understand that negative inclinations inside of us can be overcome — which are the result of original sin — through this force that Christ gives us in the sacraments. 

 

Carlo thought and wrote a great deal about what death means for Christians. Can you tell me about this?

Young people must understand that life is a gift, and it must be maximized — not for the things of this world, but for eternity. Every minute that passes, Carlo would say, is one minute less that we have to sanctify ourselves. Therefore, we must not waste this life. We have to live every day as if it were our last day.

We have to be ready every day for that final encounter with Christ. That should be the most beautiful thing that can happen to us because eternal life is marvelous. Men are afraid of death because they have no faith in eternal life and in the words of Jesus.

Carlo instead had a great deal of faith. He knew that death was the passage to the true life, so he always lived his life to please God, his neighbor. He always kept in mind that life is transitory. It is a gift that God has given us, but it can end at any moment, at a time that we don’t know. Therefore, it must not be wasted in things that God does not want. 

 

One of the great problems among young people is the quantity of time they spend in front of screens: TV and smartphones. What is your assessment, and what do you think Carlo’s advice would be in front of this problem?

We must remember and read the story of Pinocchio again. Since Carlo was Italian, we recall this great writer Carlo Collodi [best known for The Adventures of Pinocchio] who invented the character of Mangiafuoco (Fire-Eater) [in his book] and the puppets. We are not puppets in the hands of the latest Fire-Eater, which can be the most recent TikTok or Facebook video. We are free beings created in the image and likeness of God. We need to understand that we need to take possession of our lives. We cannot and should not be maneuvered by others. 

The problem is in developing a critical sense in young people. How do you develop this? By studying, working, praying and having discussions, especially with adults. Young people must not become victims, but masters of their own free time.

They need to understand that each of us has a soul. This soul needs to be nourished through prayer, reading and — above all — the sacraments, which are medicine (as St. Ignatius of Antioch would say) for immortality. Sacraments are signs that God chooses to give us grace to win always.

Carlo would say that we are free beings, made in the image and likeness of God, that life needs to be lived with our life in our own hands and not become a photocopy of another person’s life.