A British-born teenager who passed away due to leukemia in 2006 is on the verge of being recognized as the Catholic Church’s first saint born in the new millennium. Carlo Acutis, born in London in 1991, demonstrated extraordinary talents and religious fervor from a young age. His contributions to spreading the Catholic faith through digital means have earned him the moniker “God’s influencer.”
Acutis was a computer prodigy who had dedicated his skills to creating websites that propagated the teachings of the Church. Despite his untimely death at the age of 15, his legacy continues to inspire many. After moving to Italy with his parents, Carlo’s remains were placed in a tomb, displayed along with his personal belongings.
The journey towards sainthood began when a seven-year-old Brazilian boy was reportedly cured of a rare pancreatic disease after touching one of Acutis’s t-shirts, accompanied by prayers from a priest. This incident was rigorously examined and ultimately deemed a miracle by the Pope.
In the Catholic tradition, sainthood requires the verification of two miracles attributed to the individual. On Thursday, Pope Francis confirmed a second miracle associated with Acutis, thereby paving the way for his canonization. The latest miracle involved a university student from Florence who suffered a severe brain injury following a bicycle accident. After her mother prayed at Acutis’s tomb, the young woman was miraculously taken off life support, and subsequent scans revealed the complete healing of her brain.
Carlo Acutis stands out as the only person born in the 1990s to be canonized. This is particularly notable given that the previous individual canonized by Pope Francis was born in 1926.
Acutis’s mother recalls his early signs of devoutness, stating that at the age of three, he requested visits to churches to donate his pocket money to the less fortunate. His passion for the faith extended to the digital realm as he taught himself to code, creating websites for Catholic organizations. One of his most significant contributions was a website that cataloged miracles from around the world, which has since been translated into multiple languages.
