Carlo, twenty years later: the queue that never seems to end
From July 2025 to 1 October 2026, the Sanctuary of the Renunciation in Assisi counted over 1.7 million visits. The programme for the twentieth anniversary of Carlo’s death covered four days of celebrations, from 9 to 12 October.
On 12 October 2006, Carlo Acutis died at fifteen at San Gerardo Hospital in Monza. Twenty years later, his name draws crowds to Assisi that few could have imagined. According to the press office of the Sanctuary of the Renunciation, there were more than 1.7 million visits between July 2025 and 1 October 2026. Between February and March 2026, around 400,000 people came to the city to venerate St Francis’s body during its public exposition, and most also stopped to visit Carlo’s tomb.
Four days of celebrations
The programme began on Friday 9 October with Mass presided over by Friar Simone Calvarese, the Capuchin provincial minister. That evening came a gathering with music whose title says it all: “Every resurrection is also an uprising”. On Saturday evening, the sanctuary filled for Eucharistic adoration, at the heart of Carlo’s spirituality.
Sunday 11 October brought four Masses, including one in English for the many pilgrims from abroad. The 10 am Mass was presided over by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle and broadcast on Canale 5; the 8.30 am Mass was shown on TV2000. For Monday 12 October, Saint Carlo’s liturgical memorial, the programme listed a celebration led by the Bishop of Assisi, Monsignor Felice Accrocca.
A door opens again
The announcements for the celebrations included reopening the ancient entrance on Piazza del Vescovado, giving access to a place the Sanctuary describes as having great historical and archaeological value. According to tradition, Francis took off his clothes there before his father and the bishop. In the same sanctuary today rests a boy in jeans and trainers.
Why so many people?
Perhaps because Carlo is a saint we can relate to at first glance. He does not belong to a distant century, and his daily life was familiar: school, programming, games, love for other people and for Jesus. People queueing at his tomb are not always seeking a miracle. Perhaps they are looking for a sign that holiness is possible today, too.
The traffic restrictions reported for the celebrations applied on 10–12 October 2026, between 9 am and 9 pm, in Via Cristofani, Via Sant’Agnese and Piazza del Vescovado, with exceptions for residents and authorised vehicles. The parking ban in the square referred to those dates. For a later visit, check current municipal and local police guidance.
