By Peter Omopo
VATICAN CITY – Pope Leo XIV on Sunday declared Carlo Acutis, a London-born Italian teenager who died in 2006, the Catholic Church’s first saint of the millennial generation. The canonisation, held in St. Peter’s Square, was the new pope’s first official act and drew tens of thousands of worshippers, many of them young Italians.
Acutis, who passed away from leukaemia at age 15, was widely celebrated for his deep devotion to the Eucharist and innovative use of technology to spread the Christian faith. Known as “God’s influencer,” he created a multilingual website cataloguing Eucharistic miracles, blending faith with digital media in a way that resonated with a younger generation.
Born in London in 1991 and raised in Milan, Acutis regularly attended Mass, practiced adoration, and used his computer skills to advance Catholic evangelisation. His swift path to sainthood began with his beatification in 2020. In May this year, Pope Francis approved a second miracle attributed to Acutis—the healing of a Costa Rican student with a severe head injury—clearing the way for canonisation.
The ceremony, originally planned for April 27, was delayed following the death of Pope Francis and later rescheduled under Pope Leo XIV. Acutis was canonised alongside Pier Giorgio Frassati, a 20th-century Italian youth renowned for his charitable work among the poor.
With Sunday’s declaration, Carlo Acutis becomes the Catholic Church’s first saint of the digital age, a figure many young Catholics view as a bridge between timeless faith and modern technology.
