The Vatican has officially approved the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis, making him the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint. The announcement came on Monday after Pope Francis decreed the canonization following a favorable vote by the cardinals. Alongside Carlo, fourteen other individuals will also be canonized.
The exact date for Carlo’s canonization ceremony, which will take place in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City, is yet to be announced. These ceremonies are typically presided over by the Pope and attended by thousands.
The process of becoming a saint in the Catholic Church involves attributing two miracles to the candidate. Carlo’s first miracle, recognized by the Vatican in 2013, involved curing a Brazilian boy with a rare pancreatic disease. A second miracle attributed to Carlo was acknowledged by Pope Francis last May, involving the recovery of a Costa Rican university student who suffered severe head trauma after a bicycle accident in Florence, Italy. The student’s mother had prayed at Carlo’s tomb in Assisi.
Carlo Acutis, who passed away from leukemia in 2006 at the age of 15, had a passion for computer programming, video games, pets, traveling, photography, and filmmaking. He created and managed a website documenting Eucharistic miracles worldwide, earning him the informal titles “God’s Influencer” and the “Patron Saint of the Internet.”
Known for his devout faith and compassion, Carlo often helped the poor and marginalized. His mother shared that he used his savings to buy sleeping bags for the homeless and brought them hot drinks in the evenings. He also volunteered at a soup kitchen.
Carlo was beatified as Blessed in 2020. That same year, a sculpture of him was blessed at a church in Paete, Laguna, under the care of the Aquino Family of Moncada, Tarlac.