Antonia Salzano, mother of San Carlo Acutis, recently canonized, sent a special message to Mexican youth in which she invited them to be “Santos, not photocopies.”
The one known as the “Saint Millennial”, Carlo Acutis, was canonized on September 7 with Pier Giorgio Frassati. In this context, a video with the greeting of his mother was published on September 8 on the social networks of different dioceses of the country, as well as the Mexican episcopal dimension of pastoral of adolescents and young people (Dempaj).
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In the message, Salzano recalled that Mexico has the “Virgin of Guadalupe, which is an incredible thing and also has José Sánchez de Río” and added that he now also has the proximity of her son, whom she affected affectionately “Carlitos.”
He also recalled “Carlos loved Mexico a lot” and Salzano stressed that it is “a wonderful country. And you are special, why? Because you have great faith.” He also stressed that it is a country “with many vocations, it is a fervent country, a country that Jesus loves a lot.”
In that sense, he asked young people that everything in their lives has to “be special, saints, not photocopies, as Carlos said, because you are called to be saints.”
The phrase takes up an expression attributed to the young Italian: “All are born original, but many die as photocopies.” On this teaching, the postulator of the cause of canonization, Nicola Gori, explained that it means that the people “are original in the sense that each one receives talents of God”, but then “is lost and homologated, becoming one of the dough and confusing themselves with the rest.”
In the same video, Antonia Salzano recommended to young three elements as a path of holiness: the Eucharist, the Rosary, the Bible as “the remedies to be holy.”
Carlo Acutis relationship with Mexico
It is not the first time that Salzano highlights Carlo’s special relationship with Mexico. In an interview with ACI Press in 2023, he pointed out that “he liked it a lot, Much Mexico. He liked the faith that Mexicans have known Mexican religious groups. He (Carlo) knew his faith; he had admiration.”
On that occasion, he also revealed that his son investigated the appearances of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1531. In his sample about the Eucharistic miraclesCarlo made reference to the Virgin, “because she was pregnant”, which interpreted as a Eucharistic appearance, “because the Eucharist is Jesus,” said his mother.
Carlo Acutis, born in Italy in 1991, died in 2006 at age 15 due to leukemia. He stood out for his deep faith and his passion for computer science, which he used to create a digital exhibition of Eucharistic miracles recognized by the Church in various countries. It was beatified in 2020 and its exhibition “The Eucharistic Miracles in the world” is composed of 163 panels that present documented cases in 20 nations.
Diego López Colín
I am a graduate of journalism at the Carlos Septién García school with experience of religious institutional communication. Since 2016 I write for digital media and, since 2018, I report the most important news about the Catholic event in Mexico for the Ewtn news channel. ACI Press correspondent in Mexico since 2023.