By Christina Gray
At the back of Star of the Sea Church in San Francisco only feet from the urban bustle of Geary Boulevard stands a commissioned statue of St. Carlo Acutis, one of two young saints canonized this month by Pope Leo XIV.
Father Joseph Illo told Catholic San Francisco that the statue and shrine went up this spring in response to a request from parish “techies” drawn to the British-born, Italian computer programmer who had a deep devotion to the Eucharist. He died of leukemia in 2006 at the age of 15 and was beatified in 2020.
St. Carlo Acutis and St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, an Italian engineer and avid sportsman who died at age 24 after contracting polio, were both canonized Sept. 7.
Star of the Sea parishioner Daniel Francis approached Father Illo with a request for a shrine to “God’s Influencer,” a nickname earned by Carlo during his short lifetime. “We techies need a shrine too,” said Francis, CEO of a tech startup called Police Abel. “We often hit brick walls, and we need a place to light a candle and pray.”
Pablo Peniche, another local tech worker, said a shrine to St. Carlo is a “reminder that the path to sainthood is still available to us, even in the age of the Internet.” Francis said he would raise funds for a statue and shrine if the parish could make room for it. As the pastor of a “shrine church,” Father Illo agreed. The commissioned statue, dressed in the casual clothing style worn by the young student, was delivered to the parish this summer.
“For those Catholics who see the best in technology, Carlo serves as a guiding light, always pointing us to Christ,” said Francis. His startup uses advanced technologies to convert body camera footage of patrol officers into data that reduces the time spent writing reports. Francis did have a request rooted, perhaps, in the fear of lost opportunities for evangelization. “He asked that St. Carlo’s shrine be at the back of the church,” said Father Illo.
People will be walking in to see the figure of the computer programmer who became a saint, Francis reasoned. Some will be Catholic, but many won’t be. Walking up to the front of a large church to visit the St. Carlo shrine could be inhibiting.
“So, we brought St. Jude up front, and put St. Carlo in the back,” said Father Illo with a smile.
“St. Carlo was a young Catholic man, fascinated by the potential of modern technology, and used it to venerate Christ,” said Will O’Brien, CEO of Ulysses Robotics in San Francisco. “This is something I aspire to do too.”
Learn more about the St. Carlo Acutis Shrine at starparish.com.
Christina Gray is the lead writer, Catholic San Francisco.
