Carlo Acutis—a tech-savvy teen who used the internet to spread faith—has become the Catholic Church's first millennial saint. Pope Leo XIV on Sunday presided over the canonization of Carlo Acutis, reports the Guardian. Acutis, who died in 2006 at age 15 from leukemia, gained recognition for using his digital skills to spread the church's teachings, earning him the nickname "God's influencer," per NPR.
Born in London in 1991 to a family that was more culturally Catholic than devout, Acutis moved to Milan, Italy, as a child. He developed an early passion for computer science, building websites that catalogued miracles and other church teachings. He combined this digital savvy with a disciplined faith, attending daily Mass and helping the needy in his neighborhood.
Following his death, Acutis' burial site in Assisi became a pilgrimage destination, with over a million visitors in the past year. The Vatican credits him with two miracles: curing a Brazilian boy with a rare illness and healing a student in Florence after a head injury. In both cases, loved ones prayed to Acutis.
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His canonization was paired with that of Pier Giorgio Frassati, a Catholic activist from a century earlier. The canonizations had been delayed after the death of Pope Francis, who pushed hard for Acutis' sainthood, believing his story could help the church connect with younger generations navigating a digital world. In Sunday's mass, the pope urged young people not to "squander" their lives, "but to direct them upwards and make them masterpiece."
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