Pope Francis and the College of Cardinals have approved the canonization of Carlos Acutis, an Italian teenager who died of leukemia in 2006, elevating him to sainthood.
Acutis, born in London to Italian parents in 1991, will become the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint.
Acutis, a web designer who died at the age of 15 in Monza, Italy, was known for his dedication to the Catholic faith. He used his computing skills to create a website cataloging Eucharistic miracles and Marian apparitions, earning him the nickname “God’s influencer.”
In addition to his religious devotion, Acutis enjoyed playing video games such as “Halo,” “Super Mario” and “Pokémon.” His mother, Antonia Salzano, described him as a “sign of hope” and emphasized that “holiness is possible today.”
“As I did, you too can become holy,” Ms. Salzano told CNN in May. “Nevertheless, [with] all the media, the technologies, it seems sometimes that holiness is something that belongs to the past. Instead, holiness is also something nowadays in this modern time.”
The process of sainthood typically requires two miracles attributed to the candidate. Acutis was beatified in 2020, the first step toward sainthood, after being credited with healing a Brazilian child of a congenital disease affecting the pancreas. In May, Pope Francis attributed a second miracle to Acutis, involving the healing of a university student in Florence who suffered a brain bleed after head trauma.
Pope Francis and the College of Cardinals approved canonization for Acutis alongside 14 other individuals, including 11 who were killed during the 1860 Syrian Civil War.
Acutis’ canonization ceremony is expected to be held during the Catholic Church’s jubilee year celebrations in 2025.
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