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Carlo Acutis, British-born Italian teen known as God’s influencer, will become the first millennial Catholic saint at St. Peter’s Square, canonised by Pope Leo XIV.
Italian teen set to be first millennial saint. (File Photo/Reuters)
The world will soon get its first-ever Catholic saint of the millennial generation as Pope Leo will canonise British-born Italian boy, Carlo Acutis, who died aged 15 in 2006, in a ceremony at St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican.
Carlo Acutis, who died of leukaemia in 2006 aged 15, was informally known as “God’s influencer”.
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The Vatican had announced that the canonisation of Carlo Acutis will be next Sunday in St. Peter’s Square on the occasion of the Jubilee celebration of adolescents. The ceremony, which was originally set for April but was postponed after the death of Pope Francis, will be led by Pope Leo XIV and is expected to attract tens of thousands of worshippers.
According to the Dicastery for Evangelisation, more than 80,000 teenagers from 15 countries, including India, were expected to gather in Rome for the April 27 canonisation amid the Vatican’s Jubilee of Teenagers.
Leo will also canonise Pier Giorgio Frassati, a young Italian man who was known for helping those in need and died of polio in the 1920s.
All About Carlo Acutis
Born in London to wealthy Italian parents, Acutis grew up in Milan, where he managed the website for his parish and later a Vatican-based academy. He also used his computer skills to create an online database of Eucharistic miracles around the world.
His deep spiritual life took root early — he received his First Communion at 7 and soon began attending daily Mass, praying the rosary, and spending hours in eucharistic adoration.
Acutis balanced his deep devotion with a normal teenage life, enjoying activities like hiking, video games, and humour with friends.
In October 2006, when he was just 15, Carlo was diagnosed with acute leukaemia. Within 10 days, he breathed his last in a hospital in northern Italy.
Acutis was named “venerable” in 2018 after the church recognised his virtuous life, and his body, wearing sneakers, jeans and a sweatshirt, was taken to a shrine in the Santuario della Spogliazione in Assisi, Italy. It was a major site linked to St. Francis’ life.
The teenager was declared “blessed” or beatified — the first step toward sainthood — in 2020 after Pope Francis approved a miracle attributed to him. In that miracle, a seven-year-old Brazilian boy was cured of a rare pancreatic disorder after touching one of Carlo’s T-shirts, following prayers offered by a priest to Carlo for his recovery.
Carlo’s second miracle involved a 21-year-old student in Costa Rica who suffered serious head trauma in a bicycle accident. After his mother prayed at Carlo Acutis’ tomb in Assisi, a healing was recognised by the Vatican as a miracle.
For sainthood, the Vatican requires two confirmed miracles. Francis and the cardinals residing in Rome formally approved his canonisation in July 2024.
Acutis’ mother, Antonia Salzano, told news agency Reuters earlier this year that the heart of her son’s appeal to Catholic youth was that he lived the same life as others who were teenagers in the 2000s.
“Carlo was an ordinary child like (others). He used to play, to have friends, and to go to school. But his extraordinary quality was the fact that he opened the door of his heart to Jesus and put Jesus in the first place in his life,” she said.
“He used this skill to spread the good news, the Gospel,” she added. “He wanted to help people to have more faith, to understand that there is an afterlife, that we are (pilgrims) in this world,” she said.
As Acutis progressed along the Church’s official path to sainthood, his body was moved to a church in the hill town of Assisi in central Italy, where St. Francis was from, in line with Acutis’ last wishes. The new saint’s final resting place, where Acutis is entombed with a wax mould of his likeness placed over his body, wearing his track top, jeans and trainers, has become a popular devotional site, attracting thousands of worshippers every day.
Other saints who died at a young age include Therese of Lisieux, who died at 24 in 1897 and was known for promoting a “Little Way” of charity; and Aloysius Gonzaga who died at 23 in 1591 after caring for victims of an epidemic in Rome.
(With inputs from agencies)
About the Author
Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben…Read More
Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben… Read More
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September 04, 2025, 17:53 IST
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