Is the body of Blessed Carlo Acutis incorrupt?

Diocesi Assisi - Nocera Umbra - Gualdo Tadino

While the body of Blessed Carlo Acutis may appear incorrupt, it was never officially declared so.

When searching the internet for images of Blessed Carlo Acutis’ tomb, it may appear at first glance that the teenage-saint’s body is incorrupt.

Reports are also confusing, as some Italian news reports from 2020 claimed that his body was incorrupt.

However, the official word is that his body is “not incorrupt.”

Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino of Assisi said at the Mass at the opening of the tomb on October 1, 2020, that, “Today we … see him again in his mortal body. A body that has passed, in the years of burial in Assisi, through the normal process of decay.”

As stated in a previous article on Aleteia, Fr. Carlos Acácio Gonçalves Ferreira, the rector of the shrine where Carlo’s tomb is, said that his body was discovered “fully integral,” though not intact.

While his body appears to be incorrupt through the viewing glass, it is covered with a wax layer that is molded to look like his body prior to burial. This is not uncommon for the presentation of saints’ bodies.

The remains of saints in Europe, especially in Italy, are often encased in a wax layer, so that they can be presented in a glass reliquary and pilgrims can see the saint as they were when they died.

Even though his body is not incorrupt, the holiness of Blessed Carlo’s life remains a powerful example for all people, especially teenagers.

Read here to understand what an “incorrupt body” is in relation to the saints.