"Pope declares 'God’s influencer' Carlo Acutis, who died at 15, a saint"

Carlo Acutis Canonized as First Millennial Saint by Pope Leo XIV

Pope Leo XIV has declared Carlo Acutis, an Italian-born Londoner who passed away in 2006 at the age of 15, the Catholic Church's first millennial saint during an outdoor Mass in a crowded St. Peter’s Square.

Acutis, who died of leukemia, was known for creating websites to share Catholic teachings, a passion that earned him the title of “God’s influencer.” He was canonized alongside Pier Giorgio Frassati, another young Catholic advocate who died a hundred years ago.

Leo praised both individuals for shaping their lives into "masterpieces" through their devotion to faith. Hours before the ceremony, St. Peter’s Square had already filled with pilgrims, many of them young Italians.

“The greatest danger in life is to live it outside God’s purpose,” Leo stated in his homily. The new saints, he said, “call upon all of us, especially the young, not to waste our lives but to elevate them, transforming them into something extraordinary.”

The Vatican reported that 36 cardinals, 270 bishops, and hundreds of priests joined the Mass, underscoring the saints' profound impact on both church leaders and believers.

The canonizations were initially planned for earlier this year but were delayed following the death of Pope Francis in April. Francis had strongly supported Acutis’s path to sainthood, believing the church needed a figure like him to engage younger Catholics amid the challenges of the modern era.

In the past year, over a million visitors have traveled to Assisi, where Acutis’s body—dressed in a tracksuit, jeans, and sneakers, and encased in wax—is displayed in the Santa Maria Maggiore church. His heart is housed in a golden reliquary in the San Rufino Cathedral, while fragments of his pericardial tissue were displayed worldwide before his canonization.

His mother, Antonia Salzano, has toured internationally, sharing stories of her son’s life and distributing locks of his hair as keepsakes.

Acutis was born on May 3, 1991, in London to an affluent but not deeply religious Italian family. They returned to Milan shortly after his birth, where he grew up in happiness, though his spiritual commitment deepened over time.

Fascinated by computers, he studied advanced programming books as a child and gained renown for designing websites for Catholic causes, including one documenting miracles. While he enjoyed time on his PlayStation, he limited himself to one hour per week—a restraint that resonated with church leaders concerned about technology’s influence.

In October 2006, at 15 years old, he became seriously ill and was diagnosed with acute leukemia. He succumbed to the illness within days and was laid to rest in Assisi, a city linked with another revered saint, St. Francis.