Annie Walton Doyle
The pope has agreed to make a teenage influencer the first millennial saint.
Carlo Acutis, born in London in 1991, moved to Milan as a child with his Italian parents, Andrea Acutis and Antonia Salzano.
The teen was a computer prodigy and used his skills to promote Roman Catholic teachings online. He also created websites for Catholic organizations and a site documenting miracles worldwide.
Tragically, in 2006, Acutis passed away from leukemia at just 15 years old.
Acutis is now set to be canonized by the pope after two miracles have been attributed to him.
People are reacting to the news of a millennial saint on social media, with one penning: “Whether you believe in religion or not – read his story and what he did in his short life. He had a kind soul. It’s a rare find in this world.”
Another says: “This is a beautiful thing, and very precious I’m sure to the people involved. In a world full of so much hate, it’s a lovely, albeit also sad, story.”
“I’ve researched all about this young lad. Very talented and very unique. Sad that he was taken so soon but I do believe God blessed him. He was an angel on earth,” a third person writes.
In an interview with the newspaper Corriere della Sera, per The Guardian, Acutis’ mother shared that her son displayed a deep sense of spirituality from a young age, often asking to visit churches in Milan and donating his pocket money to the poor.
He would also support classmates whose parents were divorcing, defend bullied disabled peers, and provide food and sleeping bags to Milan’s homeless.
A year after Acutis’ death, his body was moved to Assisi, where it remains on display alongside other relics.
Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino of Assisi has expressed joy over Acutis’ canonization, stating: “The Church in Assisi is in celebration.”
The teen’s life is also celebrated in the U.K., in 2020, the Archbishop of Birmingham established the Parish of Blessed Carlo Acutis, incorporating churches in Wolverhampton and Wombourne, per the BBC.
There is also a statue of the soon-to-be-saint in Carfin Grotto, a Roman Catholic shrine in Motherwell.
In Catholicism, people can pray to the deceased who they believe are in heaven, requesting they speak to God on their behalf.
The Vatican classifies it as a miracle when a person prays on behalf of another for recovery from an illness or injury and it unexpectedly happens.
If two miracles are attributed to a deceased person and are approved by the pope, they qualify for sainthood.
Acutis’ path to sainthood began when Pope Francis approved a miracle involving a seven-year-old Brazilian boy who recovered from a rare pancreatic disorder after contact with one of Acutis’ T-shirts, accompanied by a priest’s prayers.
The Medical Council of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes investigated another claim: a Costa Rican woman experienced a miraculous recovery after a bicycle accident in Florence in 2022.
Her mother prayed for her recovery at Acutis’ tomb in Assisi.
That same day, the woman began breathing without a ventilator, regained the use of her upper limbs and speech, and was discharged from intensive care 10 days later. Scans reportedly revealed the contusion on her brain had vanished.
The pope approved the second miracle after a meeting with the Vatican’s saint-making department.
Of the 912 people canonized by Pope Francis, the previous most recent birth date was 1926.
Vatican News reports that Acutis will likely be proclaimed a saint in 2025.
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