Traveling for work is always ostensibly a vacation from the demands of family life. No matter how hectic the work trip might be, I always find myself completely alone with virtually no responsibilities in the evening—a situation that rarely presents itself in daily life.
Being in this situation in Dallas for the next couple days, I realized it would be an opportune time to go see the new Carlo Acutis: Roadmap to Reality documentary that is in the midst of a Fathom Events theatrical run.
The documentary offers a more in-depth look at Carlo’s life than I had previously seen, with interviews of his parents, his cousin, a childhood friend, his babysitter, and more. It also features a supporting roster of Catholic “celebrities” who might not have much to add about Carlo’s life, but certainly have nice things to say and will get more Catholics in the theater. (Chris Stefanick! Katie McGrady! Msgr. James Shea! Alex Jones, co-founder of Hallow! Wait…what?)
The film itself is expertly done in the modern documentary style—actor reenactments of key moments in Carlo’s life, animated graphics and motion in old photos, a soaring score—and it’s well worth your time.
Running parallel to the narrative of Carlo’s biography is the play-by-play of the University of Mary’s annual pilgrimage to Rome for local North Dakota Catholic high school students. There are no phones allowed on this trip, which allows the filmmakers to get at the more muddied thesis of this documentary that relates to the ubiquity of smart phones and social media among today’s young people.
These are rather unfiltered thoughts after just seeing the film, so I’m not exactly sure what point I’m making, but here goes.
As the first millennial saint (soon!) who used the Internet and coded websites, I think the legacy of Carlo Acutis has been, can be, and will be used to advance various narratives related to technology. On the one hand, he used the Internet and played video games. This makes him relatable. On the other hand, he used the Internet to make a website about Eucharistic miracles and, according to the documentary, imposed his own limit of one hour of video games per week. Less relatable.
I guess Carlo will have to co-exist as the saint who used technology and also the saint who knew technology was not the answer. In caveman speak, the thesis of the film would go something like “Technology Addiction Bad, Carlo’s Website Good, But Just Be Saint.”
The film seems to be arguing against the use of technology while at the same time championing Carlo as using it in the right way. I guess that’s fine, but in 2025 we are talking about far more than just coding a simple HTML site and using “the Internet.” For teenage (ab)users of technology, it really feels like an all-or-nothing choice is the reality for managing the use of smart phones and social media. Paging Jonathan Haidt…
It’s getting late and I’m writing in circles, but I wanted to add two more random thoughts that stood out to me from the aspects of the documentary that related to the use of technology, as I think they have particular resonance for the subject of the day on which I have so many mixed feelings: Artificial Intelligence.
Msgr. Shea—who is quickly becoming my favorite voice crying out in the wilderness on so many challenges in modern life—mentions that we are losing the ability and ambition to seek out the transcendent because technology is offering us a false version of transcendence.
What a powerful and true statement.
We live in a world of not just instant, but truly infinite, gratification. AI is only further loosening our grip on what transcendence really means. We now have AI agents to not only provide answers to our questions, but also help us write the questions. AI can give us algorithmic assurances, providing advice and clarity by analyzing whatever facts and data we provide and, with time, will surely become an ever more divine-seeming companion.
Why is there only one set of footprints in the sand when you couldn’t fix your Excel formula? It was then that ChatGPT was carrying you.
The transcendent will never be found within the confines of a browser or an app. The best technology can do is point us toward the transcendent, which ultimately requires logging off, and that’s a point the documentary makes well. Carlo basically spent his life saying “Y’all need Jesus.” That was the point of his website, too.
The film’s second powerful quote—for which I can’t remember the source—states that what separates the human from the digital is suffering. This made me think instantly of AI, which provides easy solutions and speedy results, sacrificed at the altar of human creativity and human labor. There is no “suffering” to get outputs from AI tools.
If I copy this post into ChatGPT, it will instantaneously spit back 10 headlines I can use. It would take me a lot longer than that to generate 10 of my own, a minor form of editorial “suffering.” Even this post itself could have been written by ChatGPT if I had just given it some key ideas and opinions (if you’re reading this hodgepodge of a post and thinking I would have been better off just doing that, keep it to yourself). But the creative “suffering” is what makes this real.
And the actual suffering we endure is what makes us human. It’s what makes us the unique person that God created us to be. Carlo knew it, and he suffered through his leukemia with grace, knowing that his ultimate destination was Heaven and the Eucharist was his self-proclaimed “highway” to get there. The information superhighway is not.
Ironically, this film (that I got to see because I am away from my family right now) mostly got me thinking about my own children. The world is so freaking complex and only becoming more so with each passing day. The pace of technology is making my head spin, and I don’t think it’s just because I’m getting older. I can’t imagine the issues and choices I will face as a parent when my oldest turns 15 in about six years. It will be here in a blink, but the technological landscape will probably look completely different.
As a fellow millennial, I almost think Carlo’s gifts would be better spent as the patron saint of millennial parents. We could sure use his prayers as we navigate these waters with our children, turning our own distracted eyes toward Christ as we try to make our children comprehend the glory of the Eucharist—human in its suffering, transcendent in its grace.
Soon-to-be-Saint Carlo Acutis, pray for us!
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