Carlo Acutis, a 15-year-old computer enthusiast from Milan who died of leukemia in 2006, has become the Catholic Church’s first saint of the millennial generation.
His canonization on September 7, 2025, at St. Peter’s Square in Rome, drew tens of thousands of pilgrims and captured global attention not only because of his youth, but also because of how he used the internet as a tool of faith.
Dubbed “God’s Influencer”and the“Patron of the Internet”, Acutis designed a website that catalogued Eucharistic miracles across the world. The online archive, still active today, has been translated into multiple languages and displayed as traveling exhibitions in over 100 countries.
“Carlo shows us that holiness is not about withdrawing from the world but about using every gift including technology to bring people closer to God,” Pope Leo XIV said during the ceremony. He was canonized alongside Pier Giorgio Frassati, an Italian layman admired for his service to the poor in the early 20th century.
From Ordinary Teen to Global Icon
Born in London in 1991 and raised in Italy, Acutis lived what many described as a “normal teenage life.” He loved football, video games, and walking his dog. Yet, he also developed a deep devotion to the Eucharist and spent time volunteering with the homeless and sick in Milan.
When diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia, Acutis reportedly offered up his suffering for the Pope and the Church. He died just days after his 15th birthday. His body, exhumed in 2019, now lies in Assisi, where it has become a site of pilgrimage for thousands of young Catholics.
His Verified Miracles
- Brazil, 2013 – A child with a rare pancreatic disorder was reportedly healed after his family prayed for Acutis’s intercession. The Vatican recognized this healing as the miracle required for his beatification in 2020.
- Costa Rica, 2022 – A university student suffered severe brain trauma in a traffic accident and was given little chance of survival. After her mother prayed at Acutis’s tomb in Assisi, the student recovered unexpectedly and fully. This was accepted as the second miracle, paving the way for his canonization in 2025.
How Canonization Works in the Catholic Church
- Servant of God: The process begins when a bishop opens an investigation into a person’s life, virtues, and reputation for holiness.
- Venerable: The Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints examines the evidence. If heroic virtue is confirmed, the Pope declares the person “Venerable.”
- Beatification: One verified miracle (except in martyrdom cases) is required for beatification, after which the person is called “Blessed.”
- Canonization: A second verified miracle is needed. Canonization formally declares the person a saint, allowing universal veneration in the Catholic Church.
