Rome Newsroom, Oct 12, 2021 / 18:00 pm
Fifteen-year-old Carlo Acutis died within a week of being diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia, offering his suffering for the pope and for the Church. Following his beatification on Oct. 10, 2020, his doctors and hospital chaplain recalled their memories of his final days.
Fr. Sandro Villa was the hospital chaplain of St. Gerald Hospital outside of Milan who gave Acutis the Anointing of the Sick and Holy Communion on Oct. 10, 2006, the day before Acutis went into a coma due to a brain hemorrhage caused by the M3 subtype of acute myeloid leukemia.
Villa shared at an event in Assisi Oct. 13, 2020 that he was touched by Acutis’ “composure and devotion” in receiving the sacraments in the hospital room.
“In a small room, at the end of the corridor, I found myself in front of a boy. His pale but serene face surprised me -- unthinkable in a seriously ill person, especially an adolescent,” he said.