Seven videos of good learning in RE, produced by NATRE. Taken from the DVD Good Learning in Religious Education: Seven Short Films to Make Teachers Think.
The following videos are provided by NATRE, Good Learning in Religious Education: Seven short films to makes teachers think. The films were sponsored by Culham St Gabriel’s and the Diocese of St Albans and are available to watch on NATRE’s website. There is one sample film below and the rest can be found on the NATRE website or here.
4-11 year olds
This series of lessons progresses from Early Years to Upper Key Stage 2, exploring themes around Easter at increasing depth. The resources are adapted from the ‘Salvation’ strand in Understanding Christianity. If you already teach Understanding Christianity and are interested in moving to a Religion and Worldviews approach, this resource is for you.
Created by Lynn Revell and Kate Christopher as part of their Canterbury Christ Church University grant funded project. Funding provided by Culham St Gabriel’s Trust
Follow this link to read more about Kate and Lynn’s research and watch a short video
In 2015 we commissioned a group of writers to produce articles on the concept of God and the Ultimate from a variety of different belief traditions: Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Humanist, Muslim, Jewish and Sikhi. You can find links to each of them below.
Summary explaining that Buddhism does not centre on a creator God but on awakening to ultimate reality through the Dharma; seen as truth, nirvana, emptiness, mind‑only or Buddha‑nature depending on the tradition.
Christian concepts of God and ultimate reality, providing insights and teaching ideas for Religious Education lessons.
Summary explaining how Hindu traditions understand the divine as both one ultimate reality (Brahman) and many deities who express its different qualities, allowing diverse ways of relating to and realising the sacred.
How humanists understand ultimate reality—rejecting supernatural gods, grounding meaning and morality in human experience, and turning to science and reason to explain the natural world.
Summary explaining Islamic beliefs about God as absolutely one, unique and indivisible, transcendent and beyond human comprehension, with any association of partners rejected as shirk.
Summary explaining how Jewish thought focuses less on defining God’s essence and more on covenant, scripture and lived responsibility.
Summary of Sikh belief in one formless, timeless and all‑pervading God, known through the Guru and realised by remembering the divine Name.
For both Judaism and Christianity the basis for the concept of God is monotheism (one God). Abraham, one of the patriarchs, questioned the existence of many gods such as a moon or sun god and determined that there was only one. One of the meanings behind the creation accounts in Genesis is that there is only one creator God to be worshipped.
The God of the Old Testament is a God who is spoken of as the creator, the sustainer and the redeemer of the world. God permits all things and is revealed through people such as Moses and the prophets. God wants to form a covenant (two-way promise) with humanity and is seen as active and present in the world as demonstrated when Moses speaks to a voice from the burning bush (Exodus Chapter 3). The voice gives the name ‘I am..’ , an active verb rather than a noun.
God in the New Testament relates more intimately to people in the form of Jesus. God is incarnate in the world, revealed in the world and redeems humanity through the man Jesus. The old covenants are replaced by the new covenant which Jesus makes at the last supper.
The Council of Chalcedon was a turning point in stating explicitly the church’s understanding of the nature of God and of Jesus Christ. It was held from October 8 to November 1, AD 451, at Chalcedon in Asia Minor. It marked the separation of the Eastern and Western Church with the western church accepting the ‘Chalcedonian Definition’ which stated that Christ has two natures: both divine and human.
Some of the characteristics of the Christian God may be seen as:
The Council of Nicea in 325 (from which came the Nicene Creed), based around the Trinity, helped Christians to understand the nature of God in three parts: the Trinity. God is understood as God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. St Patrick famously used a shamrock as a visual aid to explain how uniting all three aspects constitute the one God.
Christians understand God relationally and communication through prayer centres around the living presence of God.
God is understood as:
Rublev’s icon of the three visitors to Abraham, painted in the fifteenth century shows a graceful representation of the Trinity where all three elements incline to each other whilst keeping their own identity. God the Father on the left leans towards God the Son in the centre and God the Holy Spirit leans towards them both. They are seated around a table holding a wafer and a chalice representing the death of Jesus and holy communion. The icon leaves a space for the onlooker inviting them to be seated and to eat the meal. Christians understand themselves as entering into a relationship with the Trinity through worship and prayer.
Christians pray daily in a personal and intimate way to God as Abba: the conversation is two way as they wait on God to reply. Christians seek the love that has been revealed in the death of Jesus knowing that regardless of their mistakes, God’s love is sufficiently gracious and great to forgive them. Rublev’s icon shows how Christians understand, relate and love the triune God in a personal way.
St Augustine speaks of an innate longing to eat at the table and to be in the presence of God: it is only when Christians have searched and found such presence, that they find peace.
‘You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you’ (Augustine).
Main source: Mills, Watson E. (General Editor) 1998. The Lutterworth Dictionary of the Bible. Lutterworth Press, especially the William Hendricks article on God.
An investigation into differering Christian repsonses to environmental issues.
for 15-19 year olds. Originally written by Anna Davis, updated in April 2019.
Anthropocentric: human-centered; focusing on human beings as of most value and importance, especially in relation to animals or the rest of the natural world.
Apocalyptic: in biblical studies, refers to a kind of literature that reveals God’s perspective on current and future events, often with vivid and coded imagery, stark opposition between good and evil, and a prediction of what is to come. The best-known biblical example is the Book of Revelation (the Greek title of which is equivalent to the word ‘apocalypse’) in the Bible
Conservative Evangelicalism: a Christian tradition, found across a range of established and independent churches, which places particular emphasis on the authority and infallibility of the Bible, among other doctrines.
Dominion: sovereignty or control. Especially used to refer to the idea that humanity has power over the rest of creation. See Genesis 26-28.
Ecology: the part of biology that looks at how different organisms relate to one another and to their physical surroundings. Some environmentalists are concerned that human activity is damaging the delicate balance of ecology and thus endangering the future of the planet.
Ecosystem: a particular group of organisms that understood in relation to their physical surroundings.
Environment: the natural world, particularly as it is affected by human activity.
Environmentalism: a movement that is concerned with protecting the natural world from the harmful actions of humanity.
Eschatology: used by theologians to refer to beliefs about the future, and particularly about the ultimate ‘end’ of the world. It comes from the Greek word ‘eschatos’ meaning last or final. Also used to talk about God’s plans for the future of creation, including humans, animals and the environment.
Evangelism: spreading the Christian gospel with the particular aim of converting people to Christianity.
Francis of Assisi: an Italian Catholic friar and preacher of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries who founded a number of monastic orders and has become known as the Patron Saint of animals and the environment.
Fundamentalism: in this context, a form of Christianity focused on what are believed to be its fundamentals, with a particular emphasis on the authority, infallibility and inerrancy of the Bible. This label overlaps with Conservative Evangelicalism (see above).
Gaia hypothesis: the view of scientist James Lovelock that the earth is a kind of superorganism – a complex system that automatically self-regulates in ways that maintain an environment in which life can flourish.
Genesis: The first book of the ‘Old Testament’ or ‘Hebrew Bible’. It begins with two accounts of God’s creation of the world and contains various commands by God about how humans should act in relation to other parts of creation. These commands have been the subject of differing interpretations, hence the existence of current debates about how Christianity should respond to environmental challenges.
Global warming: a gradual increase in the temperature of the earth’s atmosphere and oceans. Generally attributed to the ‘greenhouse effect’, which is caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, CFCs and other pollutants as a result of human activity. There is concern that global warming could cause sea levels to rise, having catastrophic effects of human life.
Imminent expectation: in this context, refers to the belief of some Christians that Jesus will return soon – perhaps within their lifetimes – to bring about the final end of the world.
Parable: a story or image used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus and recorded in the Gospels.
Rapture: the transporting of believers to heaven during the Second Coming of Jesus at the end of the world.
Stewardship: in Christianity, the idea that humans have been given responsibility for the rest of the natural world, and have a duty to care for it.
As well as enabling students to engage critically with different approaches to environmental stewardship, this material also develops knowledge about the Bible, and the different ways this can be approached and understood. Different methods used in Biblical Studies underpin this, as outlined below:
Historical criticism is based on the presumption that the task of the biblical scholar is to discern what the text originally meant, and what events actually happened, from an objective and unbiased perspective. It has value not least in ‘distancing’ the Bible from its contemporary readers: the Bible is a collection of ancient texts, rooted in the cultural assumptions of ancient societies, that cannot cogently be regarded as simply a textbook of eternal religious or moral truths. Using this method, students can be encouraged to approach biblical texts critically, as historical sources. They may, for example, seek to identify different sources and traditions, to question which sayings of Jesus are likely to be authentic, or to consider aspects of biblical teaching that reflect ancient cultural or cosmological presuppositions. Historical criticism is no longer an uncontested or dominant method in biblical studies since it has been recognised that detached, objective historiography is impossible, and may in fact serve to conceal the interests and commitments that underlie particular construals of the past and particular readings of the texts. Nonetheless, it remains significant to a critical engagement with biblical texts as part of the study of topics such as environmental ethics.
A recent development of interest within biblical studies is in the history of interpretation and influence of biblical texts (their Wirkungsgeschichte). Rather than looking to the world behind the text – the social context in which it arose, as in historical criticism – this approach instead concentrates on the world in front of the text, that is, on the diverse ways in which the text has been understood and has shaped and influenced aspects of life and culture from art and music to ethics and politics. This method means that rather than assuming that the text has one clear, correct meaning, and attempting to decide upon this, attention is directed instead to the diversity of meanings that has, through history, been derived from this text. In relation to environmental issues, it enables consideration of how Christians at different times and places have interpreted texts like Genesis 1–2 in relation to their particular convictions and concerns. It also serves to connect biblical studies much more directly with the study of issues and approaches in Christian ethics, from the earliest times right up to the present.
More recent methods of biblical study reflect the conviction that different readings can be generated depending on the social identity and location of the reader, and have given rise to feminist, black, liberationist and many other readings of the Bible. Such approaches place much greater emphasis on the role of the reader in the construction of meaning and on the influence of the reader’s context – a development which is also to be found in the study of other kinds of literature, as well as in disciplines such as history and politics, given a widespread acknowledgment that objective and detached analysis is impossible, and that the researcher’s own convictions and approach shape their presentation. Students might therefore be encouraged to ask how modern convictions and contexts shape readings of the Bible, or how different groups might read and respond to different texts.
There are a number of evangelical Christian organisations that strongly support the idea that Christians must care for the environment. Stewardship is a prominent theme.
The Evangelical Environmental Network has stated that:
Because we have sinned, we have failed in our stewardship of creation. Therefore we repent of the way we have polluted, distorted, or destroyed so much of the Creator’s work.
They argue that we need to take better care of creation – to become better stewards – in order to live as God desires. (On the Care of Creation)
Other motivations for environmental care include an appeal to love of neighbour, encouraging people to act justly and out of consideration for those who are less fortunate. For example, the Evangelical Environmental Network includes ‘human and cultural degradation’ as among the ways in which we harm creation when we fail to act as stewards.
Tearfund, the Evangelical Alliance’s relief fund, campaigns on a variety of global humanitarian concerns including matters affecting the environment and climate change to encourage people to consider how their actions harm those who live in countries that are adversely affected by climate change. It cites a paraphrase of Romans 10.13 – ‘Love does no harm to its neighbour’ – as a call to responsible stewardship so that others do not suffer from the effects of climate change.
In 1991, the General Synod of the Church of England prepared a report on ‘Christian Stewardship’ with the aim of encouraging ‘a critical review of human responsibility to the living environment’. It states that:
Christians believe that this world belongs to God by creation, redemption and sustenance, and that he has entrusted it to humankind made in his image and responsible to him; we are in the position of stewards, tenants, curators, trustees or guardians, whether or not we acknowledge this responsibility.
The report cites Genesis 1.26-30 as giving humans authority over the natural world. However, at the same time it reads Genesis 2.15-17 as instructing humans to both ‘work’ it and ‘care’ for it. So humans have ‘dominion’ over the earth but this is a gift from God. This means that humans should care for the world ‘in the way God himself demands’.
Other motivations for environmental care include an appeal to love of neighbour, encouraging people to act justly and out of consideration for those who are less fortunate. For example, the Church of England writes of how ‘we are tenants of the world only in our own generation’, highlighting the importance of preserving the natural environment out of concern for the wellbeing of future generations. (Christians and the Environment: Report by the Board for Social Responsibility).
The Catholic Church understands stewardship as resulting from humans having been created in the image of God (the Catholic doctrine of the imago Dei).
Agneta Sutton from the Catholic Truth Society writes that:
From the very first, the biblical account of our role in creation declares that we have a special position and stand in a special relationship to God and so to the rest of creation. (Ecology and Stewardship: What Catholics Believe About the Environment. London: CTS. 2012. p. 8)
The International Theological Commission states that humans are:
…made in [God’s] image to participate in his work, in his project of love and salvation, indeed in his own lordship over the universe. Since man’s place as ruler is in fact a participation in the divine governance of creation, we speak of it here as a form of stewardship. (Communion and Stewardship: Human Persons Created in the Image of God, Section 57)
Pope John Paul II, a former leader of the Catholic Church, has spoken of the need for an ‘ecological conversion’. He remarks that:
Man’s lordship is not absolute, but ministerial…not the mission of an absolute and unquestionable master, but of a steward of God’s kingdom. (Communion and Stewardship, Section 73)
So for Catholics, ‘God appoints man as his steward in the manner of the master in the Gospel parables (cf. Luke 19:12)’. (Communion and Stewardship, Section 58).
The Orthodox Church understands Genesis 1 as a call to stewardship, requiring humans to be responsible for creation. This is also linked with the Orthodox emphasis on ‘deification’ – the idea that humans come to share fully in God’s being and nature through the process of salvation. The Report of the WCC Inter-Orthodox Consultation states that:
We are called to exercise dominion over all creatures on earth (cf. Gen. 1:28), i.e. to be stewards … of God’s material world, caring for it, maintaining it in its integrity and perfecting it by opening it up to God through our own deification. (Orthodox Perspectives on Creation, Section 11).
Orthodox theology also places emphasis on the importance of priesthood, not only as an office within the Church, but as a role that can be played by humanity in relation to the rest of creation: humans can help to offer the creation to God and mediate and express its praise to God. This may be linked with the idea of ‘deification’: the goal for humanity and for creation is to be transformed, renewed, perfected, and taken up into God. Some have suggested that these ideas about the transformation of all creation – its incorporation into the divine – may be especially valuable ideas to inspire environmental care. They express different ideas and emphases from the kind of stewardship expressed in the Protestant Churches, which is more concerned with the role of humans in relation to the rest of creation.
Not all Christians agree that we should be concerned about preserving the environment, or acting to reduce carbon emissions. Some conservative evangelical and fundamentalist groups see the environmental movement as a dangerous threat – a false, non-Christian religion.
It is important to note that such groups do not necessarily reject the idea of stewardship, but that they understand it in particular ways. Members of such groups are likely to put greater stress on the importance of evangelism (converting individuals to faith), the imminent return of Jesus, and ethical values related to sexual and family ethics than on conservation or care for the planet. Certain biblical texts to do with the end of the world are of particular importance here, for example, 1 Thessalonians 4.13-5.2 and Mark 13.7-31.
Sometimes these views are expressed in academic books, or on organisations’ websites, but more often they are to be found at a popular level on individuals’ blogs and websites.
For example, the American Evangelical organization Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation the environmentalist view of the world which it claims ‘elevates nature above the needs of people, of even the poorest and the most helpless’. The Cornwall Alliance argues that such environmentalism is a ‘green dragon’ that presents a major threat to the Christian religion.
Further, Calvin Beisner, spokesman for the Cornwall Alliance, sees the domination of nature by humans as an essential task. He writes: ‘…continued population growth will result not in the depletion but in the increased abundance of resources, and not in increased pollution of the earth but in its increased cleansing and transformation from wilderness to garden, “from its bondage to decay…into the glorious freedom of the children of God” (Rom. 8:21).’ (Where Garden Meets Wilderness: Evangelical Entry into the Environmental Debate. Grand Rapids, MI: Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty/Eerdmans. 1997. p. 107)
In more popular literature, Spencer Strickland, through a blog published by Jeremiah Daniel McCarver, ‘Saving Earth One Human at a Time’ draws attention to the impact of beliefs about the imminent end of the world on concern for the environment:
Christians should not be carried away into the frenzy that is being stirred up in popular culture. While it is true that we are all stewards of the earth and should thus take care of it, we should also be aware of the fact that the “heavens and earth which are now” are being prevented from being destroyed by the Word of God (2 Pet. 3:7). God will one day destroy the earth with the fire of judgment, and this is the warning that Christians must take to those who are lost, in order that they might be saved through the obedience of the Gospel.
Similarly, Todd Strandberg, writing on his website ‘Rapture Ready’ states that, in his view, ‘any preacher who decides to get involved in environmental issues is like a heart surgeon who suddenly leaves an operation to fix a clogged toilet.’
As a class, read and discuss the ‘Beyond Stewardship?’ stimulus text ‘Lynn White: Is Christianity to blame for our ecological crisis?’. Available to download below.
Divide the class into small groups. Give each group one of the following texts (see available to download below):
Within their groups, the students read the texts and then discuss whether:
The students should be encouraged to give reasons for their answers, and should refer to the texts the back up their views.
The groups can present their findings and views about the text they have studied to the rest of the class.
Display images depicting modern environmental problems, such as the destruction of the rainforest to grow palm oil, collapse of insect populations, reduction in water tables for cotton production and plastic pollution. Discuss what the images suggest about contemporary attitudes towards how we should care for the environment. Can any implications be drawn about Christian attitudes?
Establish the critical question: Is Christianity to blame for the Ecological Crisis? This is based on Lynn white Jr’s argument.
Divide the class into small groups. Give each group:
Using their recording sheet, each group works together to create succinct notes recording their viewpoint and three others in relation to the critical question.
After reading and discussing their viewpoint, groups send one or two envoys to other groups to discuss and learn about other viewpoints, before returning to their original group.
Allow plenty of time for reading, discussion, definition and note-taking. Students will end up with a multi-layered analysis of Christian views and a critical view.
If time, listen to a brief answer from each group to the critical question, or set as a written homework, drawing on the evidence gathered.
Ask groups to copy this graph:
In groups, place each Christian perspective on this graph: do they place human authority over nature above human responsibility to protect nature; do they value humans above the natural world, etc?
Share and discuss graphs. As a class, ascribe reasons to each positioning; what are they based on? Either give a theological argument or a biblical reference to support each position. Through the course of the conversation, ensure these two positions are defined:
Christian Environmentalism: humans must transform the way we treat the environment; the natural world must be protected and nurtured, in both Evangelical and denominational Christian thinking.
Conservative Evangelical or Fundamentalist non-Environmentalism: God will destroy the earth at the End Times, this is God’s plan for humanity and the natural world.
Debate
Divide the class into two groups: Christian Environmentalism and non-environmentalism. Each groups has 15 minutes to create 4 strong arguments in favour of their position, in response to the motion (below).
Groups should also predict counter-arguments and prepare to meet them.
Motion: The earth is ours to use
Where do you go to find programmes suitable for showing lived religion and belief to your pupils?
As you sample the programmes below you might like to consider
There is some interesting programming coming up on BBC radio and TV next year, but what did you miss in 2024? Look on iPlayer- lifestyle and page down to Faith and Hope to find Sacred wonders, Big Zuu goes to Mecca and much more. For those of you teaching younger pupils also look at Treasure Champs which has stories you may share in lessons.
If you would like to read a little more from Daisy Scalchi, Head of Religion and Ethics at the BBC, read this professional reflection piece, Religion, the most important subject on the curriculum?
The Educational Recording Agency (ERA) offers you free access to a wide range of high-quality, ad-free video content to support your lessons on religion, faith, and ethics. Their curated resources align with the RE curriculum and are available for instant streaming in your classroom, including:
These programmes provide engaging, real-life examples of how religion shapes individual lives and societies, making them excellent tools to bring classroom discussions to life. Search Religious Education and the age group you teach to see all the programmes available. Alternatively click on the links below for some curated resources.
A new textbook – Who is Jesus? – explores and exemplifies what the RE-searchers approach might look like when applied in the upper secondary school context.
A team from Exeter University and the Learning Institute has developed a new approach to Religious Education in Primary Schools. It is called ‘the RE-searchers approach’. It encourages pupils to think about the significance and effectiveness of different methodologies and methods of enquiry in Religious Education. To make these accessible to young children, we have personified some of them as cartoon characters. Individually these characters are called Debate-it-all Derek, Ask-it-all Ava, Have-a-go Hugo, and See-the-story Suzie, but collectively they’re known as the ‘RE-searchers’. Each character holds different assumptions about religion(s) and advocates different research methods (e.g. questioning and arguing, interviewing and empathizing, participating and experiencing, and narrating and exploring interpretations). Once acquainted with our characters and their respective characteristics as researchers, pupils can undertake learning activities associated with each of them in pursuit of different understandings of religion(s).
These webpages include resources that:
This online space will be used to provide a repository for such materials as we continue to develop the approach and accompanying resources. Materials have been written primarily for teachers, teacher educators and teacher trainees, but will be of interest to all those concerned with Religious Education in schools. We are keen to find more collaborators who wish to trial the approach and contribute to our understanding of how it can be used to support learning and learners in a range of contexts, thereby contributing to its future development. To receive more information on how to do so, please contact giles.freathy@thelearninginstitute.co.uk.
The RE-searchers approach has been developed through ‘close-to-practice’ theorisation and conceptualisation within the parameters of the policy and legal frameworks defining Religious Education in maintained schools without a religious affiliation in England. This work has been led by Rob Freathy at the University of Exeter and Giles Freathy, a Specialist Leader in Education in a primary school in South West England. The approach aims to initiate pupils into the communities of academic enquiry concerned with theological and religious studies. It takes as its starting point the following key assumptions: (i) religions are complex, diverse, multi-faceted, evolving and multi-dimensional phenomena; (ii) there are multiple methodologies and methods for generating knowledge about religion(s); and (iii) a multi-methodological pedagogy is necessary to avoid favouring one particular approach over others. Using the RE-searchers approach can help with learning about religion(s) and learning how to learn about religion(s) by creating a balance between: (i) subject content and issues of representation; (ii) learning processes and research methods; and (iii) personal evaluation and self-reflection.
The development of project materials has been generously funded by Culham St. Gabriel’s Trust and the Hockerill Foundation, and to whom we are very thankful for their faith, support and generosity. In addition to these two bodies we would also like to express our thanks to the following for supporting our work: The Learn Teach Lead RE Project, Sir Robert Geffery’s Primary School, The Learning Institute, Leigham Primary School, The University of Exeter Design Studio, Karen Walshe, Geoff Teece, Jonathan Doney, Lorraine Abbott, Emma Butler, Izzy Williams, Katie Freeman, Tatiana Wilson, Linda Rudge, Julie Curtis, Dave Francis, James Robson, Mark Chater, Nick Appleby and Danielle Golding.
To continue our theme of ‘ways of knowing’ we bring you something new this month- an Abrahamic Commentary to support the teaching of RSE (Relationships and Sex Education). Aliya Azam has kindly shared this commentary for RSE teachers, or anyone who would find it useful in the classroom.
Aliya was interested to explore how teachers in faith schools could address some of the issues raised in the RSE curriculum. She found a great many people also considering this question, and this commentary is the end result. Although RSE is not part of the Religion and Worldviews curriculum, Aliya’s research speaks to a wider context of health, society, community and identity. Read more about Aliya’s findings in this field in her blog.
When students ask whether faith has anything to say to modern life, the Catholic saints can sometimes feel like the wrong place to start. Too often, they appear distant – they are shaped by another century, another culture, another set of assumptions.
Carlo Acutis changes that conversation.
A teenager who loved coding, gaming, and football, Saint Carlo shows what Catholic belief can look like when it is lived seriously in the contemporary world – not as nostalgia, but as conviction.
Carlo was born in London in 1991 to Italian parents before his family returned to Milan. His upbringing was not conventionally “religious” in the way we might expect of a future saint. His parents were not regular Mass-goers, and there was no intense devotional culture at home. Yet from an early age, Carlo displayed a quiet attentiveness to faith. He asked questions, noticed details, and chose practices that slowly, but deliberately, shaped his life.
After receiving his First Holy Communion at the age of seven, Carlo chose to attend Mass daily. He developed a deep love for the rosary, reading Scripture, and acts of charity – particularly towards the poor, migrants, and those sleeping rough around Milan. These were not dramatic gestures, but steady habits. His faith was rooted in Catholic tradition, disciplined rather than showy, ordinary rather than performative.
A child of his generation
At the same time, Carlo was unmistakably a child of his generation. He loved football, video games, and technology. Like many young people of the 1990s and early 2000s, he taught himself coding, web design, and programming, becoming skilled enough to help others build websites. This is what makes him a genuinely millennial saint. Carlo did not reject modern life in order to be holy; he inhabited it fully and learned how to live faithfully within it.
At the centre of everything was Carlo’s devotion to the Eucharist. He famously described it as his “motorway to heaven” – a phrase that is often quoted because it is both ordinary and profound. For Carlo, the Eucharist was not background scenery to his faith, but the place where Christ was encountered most fully. This conviction shaped how he used his time, his talents, and his energy.
Cataloguing miracles on the web
His best-known project was a digital exhibition cataloguing Eucharistic miracles from around the world. As a teenager, Carlo researched historical accounts, visited sites, gathered sources, and presented them online with clarity and care. His aim was not to sensationalise, but to show that belief in the Real Presence was not an abstract claim – it was something the Church had taken seriously, consistently, and globally.
One example Carlo researched was the Eucharistic miracle of Lanciano. In the eighth century, a priest struggling with doubt is said to have witnessed the consecrated host and wine transform into flesh and blood during Mass. In the 1970s, independent scientific analysis identified the flesh as human heart tissue and the blood as real human blood, preserved without additives. Carlo did not use such accounts to “prove” belief to sceptics, but to point back to what Catholics already claim happens every single time Mass is celebrated.
A life cut short
Carlo’s life was tragically short. In 2006, he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukaemia and died within days, aged just fifteen. Even during his illness, accounts describe a calm acceptance and a concern for others rather than himself. He was beatified in 2020 and is often described as a “patron saint of the internet” – a label students immediately connect to. He was formally declared a saint on 7 September 2025.
As one young Catholic from London in Rome reflected, “The fact that you can think of a Saint doing the same things as you – wearing jeans, playing video games – it feels so much closer than other saints have in the past.”
For RE teachers, Saint Carlo’s biography does important work. He helps bridge the gap students often feel between holiness and normality, faith and technology, tradition and modern life. He offers a contemporary reference point for Catholic belief without diluting its depth or demands.
Saint Carlo Acutis offers something rare: a life close enough to feel recognisable, yet deep enough to stretch our understanding. His story does not demand instant or forced belief in the Eucharist – but it does invite serious attention to what Catholics claim is at the heart of their faith.
His website remains online here: https://www.miracolieucaristici.org/en/liste/list.html
I was intrigued by this project because it was an opportunity for me to learn about a topic I had never given any real thought to; how animals are farmed, and what are ethical ways of thinking about this. The project is CEFAW: Christian Ethics of Farmed Animals Welfare. The CEFAW project is an engaging and accessible way to educate pupils about farming practices and the ethical questions raised, such as responsible meat consumption. As a teacher, I was able to tailor the lesson plans and resources created through the project to enable pupils from all backgrounds to explore these ideas, contextualising what this means for Christians, the animals, farmers and for pupils as individuals – now and in the future.
I have always been mindful of what children put into their bodies and how this can impact their physical, emotional and mental wellbeing and consequently their ability to learn and be responsible members of society. I had been recently researching the impact hormone injected chickens can have on children and what some of the signs are of this impact.
For these reasons, when the opportunity to work alongside leading experts like David Clough and James Holt presented itself, I was excited to explore how a topic I am interested in personally, will develop through the RE lens.
I worked with two primary colleagues – Mel Gilbert and Stacey Cowell- which was a wonderful experience in itself. We shared ideas and experiences and provided each other with advice and support to refine our thoughts. Working with teachers from different parts of the country made certain that the resources were reflective of all pupils.
Furthermore, being provided with forums where I could share my research and experience from the project has facilitated me to continuously reflect on how the project can be utilised in the primary classroom and its potential long-term impact on the environment and young people’s health. For this I am grateful to Culham St Gabriel’s Trust!
One of the many things that I have taken away from this project, is the effectiveness of using discursive questions to stimulate pupils to think critically, review their opinions and experiences considering what they are learning and researching in lessons as well as the wider implication of key concepts and ideas.
Regardless to say, participating in such projects has its own barriers. As a fulltime teacher in Year 6, I had to consider whether I would be able to manage the deadlines and workload. I couldn’t attend the residential as it clashed with SATs. Consequently, I didn’t have the first hand experience of being on a farm; a highlight of the project. Despite my own unfortunate diary clash, it is essential for teachers to take such opportunities, which prevents our teaching from becoming stale and invigorates our own thinking.
Every time I participate in classroom-based research, my class enjoys the benefits of learning something controversial, being able to ask difficult questions and appreciating it is not necessary that everyone agrees to everything.
When the CEFAW resources are available for distribution, I believe everyone should evaluate how their pupils can benefit and trial them.
Our pupils live in a complicated world where most of what they experience is through a screen – the CEFAW project teaches compassion for living things – it teaches to connect with what is happening around you.
