A-Infos (en) Italy, Umanita Nova #23/25 - Holy Cards and Holy Alliances. Beatification of Carlo Acutis (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Neither heresy nor sanctity exist in themselves as immutable realities. 
Over the centuries, their definition has changed, as have the procedures 
for identifying them. The categories of "heresy" and "sanctity" are 
applied by those who intend and claim to impose their own system of 
power and their own agenda of truth. The institutions and groups that 
exercise power, in its various forms, brand as "heresy" any experience 
considered an anti-model that questions, fails to recognize, or 
challenges this exercise (and the monopolies and privileges that derive 
from it). Equally and conversely, by applying the label of "sanctity," 
the same groups and institutions propose an exemplar, a model that 
serves their own purposes, their own preservation, their own political line.

There are undeniable economic benefits associated with the cult of a 
saint: pilgrimages, accommodations, offerings, candles, various 
religious merchandise, souvenirs of questionable taste and of very 
little use... But the proclamation of a new saint guarantees the 
Catholic Church far more important benefits, even if they are not as 
immediately visible. In a self-referential dynamic, the Catholic Church 
recognizes sainthood when it aligns with its own objectives and 
contributes to strengthening its power and image, as well as 
establishing new alliances or consolidating existing ones. Solemn 
canonizations are aimed, depending on the moment in history and 
political circumstances, at both the self-defense and the exaltation of 
the Church of Rome. The Vatican, therefore, grants the label of 
sainthood if it finds it in line with its own interests, that is, if the 
request of the promoters of the cause for sainthood is consistent and 
functional to the intentions and agenda of the "leadership": when the 
specific interests of an institution, a particular territory, a 
religious body, a local power group, a class, a professional 
corporation, or a prominent family coincide with the interests of the 
Papal Curia. In the case of the canonization of Carlo Acutis, formalized 
in Rome on September 7, these mechanisms are particularly evident. Let's 
try to identify some of them.

Carlo Acutis, who died in 2006 at the age of fifteen from fulminant 
leukemia, was the scion of a wealthy upper-middle-class family: the 
Acutis family controls Vittoria Assicurazioni, one of the largest 
insurance companies in Italy, with annual revenues of well over one and 
a half billion euros. We all remember the uncle of the Marquis del 
Grillo, obsessed with the idea of having his ancestor Quartina 
canonized: advancing the cause was his sole purpose in life, pursued by 
incessantly collecting testimonies of her ancestor's miracles (miracles 
that, in fact, aroused perplexity and hilarity, not amazement). Today, 
the upper middle class-the new nobility-seems to be beginning to display 
the same craze: to have a saint in the family to glorify their lineage 
and also to attest, with this special and very expensive seal, to their 
impressive business volume and status. Moreover, canonization processes 
cost a fortune, and only those who can afford it invest in a 
"certification of sainthood," which, if obtained, guarantees a highly 
profitable return.

The demands of the powerful Acutis family have met the demands of the 
Catholic Church, which is seeking a figure to impose on the new 
generations, known as the Zetas and Alphas, after the previous youthful 
saints (Luigi Gonzaga, Maria Goretti, Domenico Savio) have inexorably 
lapsed and become insufficiently attractive. Carlo Acutis is being held 
up to young people as a model of faith and even as the patron saint of 
the internet. This is because during his short life, to promote and 
spread Eucharistic devotion online, he had set up a website with 
ultra-conservative and traditional content, mostly centered on 
miraculous narratives: new digital technologies as a showcase for stale 
dogmas, which they purport to demonstrate through ancient tales with a 
fairytale flavor.

And so every day, throngs of young Catholics, often grouped together in 
easily recognizable groups by their uniforms, are driven to flock to 
Assisi to venerate the body of Carlo Acutis, displayed in a glass coffin 
like a modern-day Snow White. The body, covered by a silicone mask, has 
also fueled, especially among the simplest of people, the widespread-and 
entirely unfounded-belief that the corpse was miraculously preserved 
intact, impervious to decay. No, there's no "miracle of 
incorruptibility": it's simply silicone! The body is dressed according 
to the typical fifteen-year-old image conceived by the Vatican marketing 
department: sweatshirt, jeans, and sneakers, all in shades of blue and 
all designer labels. A horrifying detail: the heart was removed from the 
corpse and is on display in a special case in another location in 
Assisi, the Cathedral of San Rufino. The dismemberment of the body, the 
display and veneration of its parts (tongue, head, heart, fingers, hair, 
etc.) are well known to evoke magical thinking and practices with 
ancestral anthropological roots. But the fact that such rituals are 
still being perpetuated today, over the corpse of a fifteen-year-old, 
cannot help but raise more than a few eyebrows. The fragmentation and 
display, besides being disturbing, are the result of decisions made by 
others, overriding the will of the person, who is no longer able to make 
his or her voice heard. The value of the individual as a 
self-determining subject, the assertion of one's freedom of choice, 
constitute the founding core of anarchist thought, despite its plurality 
of currents, schools, and ramifications.

The irreducibility and uniqueness of the individual is rooted in the 
very body of the individual and is also expressed in self-determination 
over it: in life, in death, and after death. Meanwhile, the market for 
relics has also flourished with its usual rapidity: locks of hair 
attributed to Carlo Acutis have appeared online, auctioned off for 
dizzying prices, until the Catholic Church intervened with a complaint. 
After all, how could it tolerate competition in a sector in which its 
monopoly has been well-established and unchallenged for centuries? 
Assisi, meanwhile, is already largely colonized by the "Carlo Acutis" 
brand. His image recurs obsessively on every conceivable piece of junk: 
refrigerator magnets, figurines of every size and material, watches, 
t-shirts, mugs, water bottles... Perhaps the toothbrushes are still 
missing, but it's probably only a matter of time.

Aside from all this, which certainly has its weight, we want to 
emphasize here how the recent canonization has sealed an alliance 
between the Roman Curia and a family of the upper middle class financial 
class. And it's not surprising, incidentally, that Carlo Acutis's 
mother, Antonia Salzano Acutis, a tireless advocate for her son's 
canonization, already sits on the board of directors of the "Pontifical 
Academy Cultorum Martyrum" in Rome. In the past, canonizations were 
primarily for kings, queens, princes, and princesses, as well as members 
of the higher clergy (popes, cardinals, bishops, abbots), but all, of 
course, members of high-ranking families. Now, although the aristocracy 
has not been completely set aside, the focus is on liaisons with the 
business and financial upper middle class. It is neither coincidence nor 
chance that on the same day in Rome as Carlo Acutis, the young Pier 
Giorgio Frassati, who died in 1925, was canonized: he too was a scion of 
the upper middle class, son of the founder of Turin's "La Stampa," 
Italy's second-largest daily newspaper at the beginning of the twentieth 
century. Another convergence: both young men did not attend public 
schools but prestigious private high schools run by Jesuits (Acutis in 
Milan, Frassati in Turin). Wonderful, mysterious coincidences willed by 
the Holy Spirit? No, a precise strategy orchestrated by the Roman Curia 
in deliberating the canonizations, and which in both cases also included 
an implicit negative statement about public schools, abhorred by the 
saints. And so, while the media inundated us with edifying anecdotes, 
songs, incense, tears, and emotions live from St. Peter's Square, the 
solemn double canonization of September 7th actually sealed the value 
system, the socioeconomic alignment, and the elitist affiliation that 
both Frassati and Acutis embody. But we, as we know, "tear the veil of 
truth, therefore we are criminals." Or rather: heretics.

F.T.

https://umanitanova.org/santini-e-sante-alleanze-beatificazione-di-carlo-acutis/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Subscribe/Unsubscribe https://ainfos.ca/mailman/listinfo/a-infos-en
Archive: http://ainfos.ca/en