Pope Francis told young Catholics on Friday that Jesus is not just a moral precept but a person and a great friend. He encouraged them to build and cultivate their relationship with Christ as Blessed Carlo Acutis did. The first millennial to be beatified by the Catholic Church, Carlo Acutis loved the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. ”To be always united with Jesus, this is my life program,” he wrote at age 7. Speaking to participants of an Italian youth camp in an audience on Aug. 5 at the Vatican, the pontiff reminded them of the message from Christus Vivit, a post-synodal exhortation published in 2019: ”Christ is alive and he wants you to be alive!”
