‘God’s influencer’: Pope officially declares Italian teen Carlo Acutis a saint

VATICAN CITY – Pope Leo XIV officially proclaimed Italian teenager Carlo Acutis the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint on Sept 7 to applause from thousands of faithful gathered at the Vatican.

Acutis, who died of leukaemia in 2006 at the age of 15, has been dubbed “God’s influencer” for his efforts to spread the Catholic faith online.

Pilgrims stretched across the square in front of St Peter’s Basilica, many of them young people holding up flags from different countries or images of the so-called cyber apostle.

“Carlo Acutis is an example for me because he was able to combine his everyday life – school, football and his passion for IT and computers – with an unshakeable faith,” said Filippo Bellaviti, 17.

He said the atmosphere on Sept 7 was “beautiful”.

“Seeing people from so many parts of the world, you can see the affection for Carlo for what he’s done,” he said.

Around 800 people arrived on a special train from Assisi, where Acutis’ body, dressed in jeans and a pair of Nike trainers, lies in a glass-walled tomb.

The mass was also watched by the faithful on giant screens in Assisi, a mediaeval city and pilgrimage site in the central region of Umbria.

Italian Pier Giorgio Frassati, a mountaineering enthusiast who died of polio aged 24 in 1925 and was known for his social and spiritual commitment, was also made a saint on Sept 7.

Tapestries showing images of both young men were displayed on the facade of St Peter’s Basilica.

Pope Leo said in his homily: “Saints Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis are an invitation to all of us, especially young people, not to squander our lives but to direct them upwards and make them masterpieces.

“Even when illness struck them and cut short their young lives, not even this stopped them nor prevented them from loving, offering themselves to God.”

‘Exemplary life’

Acutis grew up in the northern city of Milan, where he attended mass daily and had a reputation for kindness towards bullied children and homeless people, bringing the latter food and sleeping bags.

A fan of computer games, Acutis taught himself basic coding and used it to document miracles and other elements of the Catholic faith online.

Bishop Domenico Sorrentino of Assisi on Sept 5 called on young people to follow Acutis’ example.

“Today, more than ever, we need positive examples, exemplary life stories that can help our young people avoid following discouraging images, violent examples and fleeting fads that leave nothing behind,” he said in a statement.

The Vatican has recognised Acutis as performing two miracles since his death, a necessary step on the path to sainthood.

The first was the healing of a Brazilian child suffering from a rare pancreatic malformation; the second the recovery of a Costa Rican student who had been seriously injured in an accident.

In both cases, relatives prayed for help from the teenager, who was beatified in 2020 by Pope Francis.

The canonisation of the so-called cyber apostle was initially set for April but postponed when

Pope Francis died

.

It is the first such ceremony for US-born Pope Leo, who remarked ahead of the mass: “I’m happy to see so many young people!”

Acutis’ mother Antonia Salzano said her son would thank all those coming to mark his elevation to sainthood.

In a video published by the Assisi diocese on Sept 6, she said her son was proof that “we are all called to be saints... Everyone is special”.

Among the crowd on Sept 7 was Eleanor Hauser, 15, on a school trip to Italy from the US state of North Carolina. She said she had been told about Acutis by her Catholic grandmother.

“It shows that you can do so much even when you are young. You can make an impact on the world no matter how old you are,” she said. AFP