A British-born Italian teenager, Carlo Acutis, will become the first millennial saint this Sunday, September 7, with thousands of pilgrims expected to attend the canonisation at St Peter’s Square in the Vatican.
Acutis, who died of leukaemia in 2006 at the age of 15, gained fame for using the internet to document Catholic miracles and promote the faith, earning the nickname “God’s Influencer.” His body, dressed in jeans and Nike trainers, rests in a glass-walled tomb in Assisi, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors annually.
Born in London in 1991 to an Italian mother and a half-English, half-Italian father, Acutis grew up in Milan. Though his parents were not particularly devout, he attended daily Mass and was known for his kindness to bullied children and the homeless, often bringing them food and sleeping bags. He maintained parish websites and later the website of a Vatican-based academy, using his computer skills to share elements of the Catholic faith online.
His mother, Antonia Salzano, said he had a “special relationship” with God from an early age. At seven, Acutis wrote: “My life plan is to be always close to Jesus,” a commitment he carried throughout his life. After being diagnosed with leukaemia in October 2006, he reassured his parents: “I’m happy to die because I’ve lived my life without wasting even a minute of it doing things that wouldn’t have pleased God.” He passed away on October 12, 2006.
The Vatican recognised two miracles attributed to him: the healing of a Brazilian child suffering from a rare pancreatic malformation, and the recovery of a Costa Rican student seriously injured in an accident. These miracles paved the way for his beatification in 2020 by Pope Francis.
Over 800 pilgrims are set to travel from Assisi to Rome for the canonisation. It was Acutis’ final wish to be buried in Assisi, the home of his 13th-century idol, Saint Francis, who dedicated his life to helping the poor.
The canonisation is part of a long and meticulous process that begins with a five-year waiting period after death, followed by investigations into the person’s life of heroic virtue, beatification after the recognition of a miracle, and finally canonisation upon recognition of a second miracle.
Also to be canonised is Italian Pier Giorgio Frassati, a mountaineering enthusiast and social activist who died of polio in 1925 at age 24. Frassati, beatified by John Paul II in 1990, is recognised for his dedication to serving the poor and sick. The Vatican approved a second miracle attributed to him, the unexplained recovery of a young American man who had been in a coma. His casket bears the inscription “Verso l’alto” (“To the heights”), reflecting his love for mountaineering.
Sunday’s canonisation will be Pope Leo XIV’s first since his election in May and falls during the Jubilee, a Catholic “Holy Year” that has drawn over 24 million pilgrims to Rome, according to the Vatican.
