Tolkien and Carlo Acutis
Issues Around Technology and Sainthood
What Up, What Up Tolkien Poppers,
Summer is just around the corner and I am beyond pumped. As a school teacher, my year is wrapping up and the sweet, sweet call of the break has got me a little restless. I will still have a month of spring weather left and I am rejoicing because that means I can garden, smoke some meats, and enjoy time by the firepit without burning alive and/or drowning in the Tennessee humidity.
If you’re a student, parent, or educator, you may be feeling something similar—at least pertaining to the excitement and plans that usually come with the summer break. What I’m really looking forward to is reading and writing without the weight of my 9-5, meaning I can really put my nerdy pedal to the metal. Hopefully y’all will enjoy what I have to offer here and elsewhere as my writing projects never really end.
To end the school year and bring in the break, I have for you a sort of comparative analysis between the Blessed Carlo Acutis and Tolkien—specifically their views on technology and what elements of sainthood people have found in both. Their stories are inspiring and I believe they have something to teach us about technology. Enjoy and I will catch y’all in the summer!
Peace!
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The world is a place full of skeptics, the superstitious, and mystery. In the midst of the enigma of reality and the things humanity has still not been able to explain, the canonization of saints in the Roman Catholic Church has captured my recent attention–specifically, the scheduled canonization of the first millennial saint Carlo Acutis. My wife and I traveled to Italy in 2024 for our ten year anniversary. We stopped at the popular locations such as Rome and Florence, but we also made the city of Assisi a destination for our trip. St. Francis has been a figure that I have revered since I learned who he was and his story, so I felt as if I needed to go there. At this point, I had never heard of Carlo Acutis, but my wife, in anticipation for Assisi, did some research and learned that Blessed Carlo’s remains were being held at the Church of St. Mary Major in Assisi. Him being the first millennial saint drew us both in.
After our trip and seeing Carlo, we also discovered that he was scheduled to be canonized on April 27th, 2025. Sadly, Pope Francis passed away before that date, delaying his canonization. To celebrate Carlo’s canonization, Tim Moriarty and Christian Surtz released the documentary Carlos Acutis: Roadmap to Reality, which explores Carlo’s life, the following and miracles that arose after his death, and how his influence has brought tangible change to real people. It is a moving film. Carlo’s life truly was one of simplicity and devotion.
As I am not a Roman Catholic, I have no skin in the game regarding whether or not Carlo should or shouldn’t be canonized–nor do I hold any strong opinions pertaining to the theological aspects of sainthood. I do, however, find Carlo and the attention his life has garnered deeply inspiring. For those of you who do not know how the process of identifying and canonizing a saint in the Catholic Church works, I will give you a brief synopsis.
After the passing of a person, individuals can petition their bishops to investigate the ongoing work of said person. Before anything can move forward, an investigation into the person nominated for sainthood is conducted. Did the person live a life of virtue or not? If so, the process of potential canonization can continue. From there, proof of a candidate’s work (aka a miracle) via intercession is needed. After two miracles are vetted and confirmed, the Pope designates the person as “Blessed” and usually moves them on to canonization.
Carlo Acutis has officially met all these standards. What drew people to him was that he was extremely devout, beginning when he was three years old. His devotion influenced his family, who had lapsed in their attendance and participation in the church, to the point where they returned to the church and grew in their faith. Being the first millennial saint, he grew up in the transition to the digital age. Rather than outright reject or completely embrace the new technologies leading into the 21st century, Carlo cultivated a sense of moderation when it came to the use of technology. He was more interested in enjoying his friendships, family, and the church.
Many people of faith have a song, an architecture, or liturgy that they cling to. For Carlo, the eucharist captured his heart. He went to mass daily and participated in what is called adoration as much as he could, which is the practice of worshipping God through Jesus Christ as believed to literally be present in the eucharist. In light of his particular love for the eucharist and desire for others to share in the enjoyment his faith gave him, he learned how to create a website and started documenting eucharistic miracles from across the globe and history, making the website available to all who would visit it. Eventually, it gained a following and people around the world arrived at his website to learn more about the eucharist and its relevance throughout history. Technology, used in the right way, could lead people to God.
Tragically, Carlo died of leukemia. He was diagnosed on October 8th, 2006 at the age of 15 and within a week, he passed. Before he died, he requested to be buried in Assisi and later grew a following because of the life he lived. A Facebook group was made to remember Carlo and his popularity took off. Eventually, reports came from those who asked for his intercession and experienced miracles. And today, Blessed Carlo has relics and chapels around the world, honored by many devout Roman Catholics who ask for him to intercede on their behalf and assist them in drawing closer to God.
So where does Tolkien fit into the story of the first millennial saint? As I was contemplating what I should write next, my wife, who is also fascinated and inspired by Carlo’s life and story, suggested that I write about him. Initially, I chuckled and ignored her suggestion as lighthearted teasing. But when I thought about it, I realized that there are multiple things that both Tolkien and Carlo have in common: 1) they are both Roman Catholic; 2) they both adore the eucharist; 3) they both have their own philosophies on how one should approach technology; and 4) they both have followings that have sought and are seeking their canonization.
Tolkien was born into an Anglican family in what is now South Africa, but after the passing of his father Arthur when he was three years old his mother Mabel moved her, him, and his brother Hilary back to England and converted to Roman Catholicism. Later, his mother died when he was only twelve years old, leaving Tolkien and his brother orphans. Thankfully, they were adopted by a priest named Father Francis Morgan and were partly raised in the Birmingham Oratory, a Catholic community founded by Cardinal John Henry Newman. Mabel’s love for the church, her personal sacrifices to keep her sons in the Catholic Church, and the upbringing of Fr. Morgan are what established the foundation for the shaping of Tolkien’s faith.1 Tolkien would continue to be a Roman Catholic the rest of his life.
Part of what kept Tolkien so connected to the church was his affinity for the eucharist. There are letters where he expresses his dependance and love for communion (Letters, 475)2, encourages his children to continue in partaking in the elements (Letters, 65, 476), and even mentions his mother as a martyr in encouraging his son Christopher during his service in WWII by claiming to offer his communion for him (Letters, 61).
Carlo was so drawn to the eucharist that he took his first communion at the age of seven, which is the earliest a child in the Roman Catholic church can receive communion. The eucharist is a shared love among Catholics across time and space and it is one of the things that bridges Carlo and Tolkien as people and Catholic figures.
One of the many things that drew people to Carlo’s life was his mature and almost prophetic approach to technology. In Carlos Acutis: Roadmap to Reality, his friends and family who were interviewed all expressed how Carlo always set parameters for himself regarding time with technology. As stated above, he was more interested in relationships and worshipping God. His mother claimed that when he received a Playstation as a gift, he limited himself to one hour a day with no prompting from others. He realized that technology was a tool that could be used for the right reasons while also being a potential for falling into bad habits.
Tolkien is also notorious for his views on technology. Unlike Carlo, however, Tolkien had an extremely negative view towards technology in general:
“There is a tragedy and despair of all machinery laid bare. Unlike which is content to create a new secondary world in the mind, it attempts to actualize desire, and so to create power in this World; and that cannot really be done with any real satisfaction. Labour-saving machinery only creates endless and worse labour. And in addition to this fundamental disability of a creature, is added the Fall, which makes our devices not only fail of their desire but turn to new and horrible evil. So we come inevitably to Daedalus and Icarus to the Giant Bomber. It is not an advance in wisdom!” (Letters, Letter #75)
In Tolkien’s adolescence, he saw the industrial transformation of rural parts of England in real time–a social reality that did not have universal residence or appeal at this time in history. Whereas Carlo grew up in a time where Progressive Era city development had decades of implementation and was commonplace alongside the prevalence of digital technology, Tolkien did not experience the rise of commonplace industrialism until he was a young man. Carlo saw the positive use of technology. From Tolkien’s perspective, he only witnessed technology’s destructive power over natural parts of the world.
Although Carlo and Tolkien had different feelings towards technology–including the experience of different technologies–both recognized the dangers of the unchecked reign of technology. In their respective times, they were both prophetic in their anticipation of what was to come regarding the dependence on technology for the foreseeable future. For Carlo and Tolkien, God was the real thing and Creation was beautiful. The way I understand them, if God and God’s Creation are not prioritized, then anything else is at least a distraction and at worst an idol. Technology, when viewed as a tool to honor God and bolster Creation in a way that is in line with God’s vision, can bring about goodness in the world. If it is sought as a good in and of itself then it is how many of the ecological, societal, and anthropological tragedies of the 20th and 21st centuries have come about.
It is deep insights like this–along with many other qualities–that have drawn so many to both Tolkien and Carlo, leading to efforts to canonize them as saints in the Roman Catholic Church. Carlo’s life and the miracles attributed to him have been a success story in the realm of sainthood. Tolkien’s status is yet to be seen. In 2015 a Brazilian Catholic fan of Tolkien sent an official petition to consider Tolkien’s canonization and in 2017, a mass was held at the Oxford Oratory for the beatification of Tolkien.3
No matter where one stands religiously or on the legitimate sainthood of either figures, for me, both Carlo’s and Tolkien’s emphasis on a return to enjoying the world rather than being sucked into a false one entirely is a worldview worthy of consideration. If fantasy, art, or the digital-sphere lead us to avoid the world and those in it, it is an indication of our desire to control rather than surrender to the reciprocal relationship that is needed to live well and is grounded in primary reality. Humanity is not in control. Death and decay are the cost of living, but if we cultivate healthy relationships with those around us and the tools we develop and use, we can enjoy the world holistically and with freshness in each moment on our way to dying. What happens after death, no one can say, but regardless, making this world one where the overall wellbeing of all is prioritized resonates with the beauty of a sanctuary, the pastoral loveliness of The Shire, or maybe, just maybe, even heaven on earth.
Ordway, Holly. Tolkien’s Faith. Word on Fire Academic, 2023. 27-36.
Tolkien, J. R. R., et al. The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien. Revised and expanded edition, HarperCollinsPublishers, 2023.
Glyer, Mike. “Tolkien: An Unexpected Sainthood.” file777.com. https://file770.com/tolkien-an-unexpected-sainthood/.
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