London-born teenager dubbed ‘God’s influencer’ to be made a SAINT by Pope Francis next year: Carlo, who died from leukaemia aged 15, will be the first Millennial ever canonised
A London-born 15-year-old who died of leukaemia will be made a Saint next year.
Pope Francis confirmed that Carlo Acutis, known as ‘God’s influencer’, will be appointed as a Saint in an official ceremony in April, during the Catholic Church’s Jubilee for Adolescents in Rome.
The ‘techie’ teen – born in 1991 to an Italian mother and half Italian, half English father – will be canonised alongside activist Piero Giorgio Frassati.
The Pope said: ‘I want to say that next year, on the day of adolescents, I will canonise Blessed Carlo Acutis, and on the day of the youth, next year, I will canonise Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati.’
The Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino of Assisi, where Acutis is buried, confirmed the news, saying that Acutis will be canonised during a special Mass celebrated by Pope Francis on April 27, 2025, in St Peter’s Square.
Acutis spent most of his life in Milan and his family visited Assisi every year around Easter, as it was his favourite place, and is where he asked to be buried.
He spent much of his spare time designing an online exhibition about Eucharistic miracles around the world.
Due to his proficiency with computers, he has been referred to as a ‘saint of the ordinary,’ and also a possible patron saint for IT workers.
He died from an aggressive form of leukemia in 2006 and would be 33 if he were still alive. Acutis will be the Catholic Church’s first millennial to be canonised.
Carlo Acutis (pictured) limited himself to one hour of video games each day so that he could devote more time to his religion
Acutis, who died of leukaemia in 2006 aged 15 and was informally known as ‘God’s influencer’ is about to become a saint
He would be only the second Briton to become canonised in nearly 50 years
In 2020, the Pope recognised the healing of a young boy in Brazil from a rare form of pancreatic cancer attributed to Acutis.
Shortly after, he was beatified which is the first step towards sainthood.
Earlier this year, the Pope recognised a second miracle – the healing of a student in Florence who had a bleed on the brain.
Pope Francis called him a role model for young people who are frequently tempted by ‘self-absorption, isolation and empty pleasure.’
The Pope said: ‘Carlo was well-aware that the whole apparatus of communications, advertising and social networking can be used to lull us, to make us addicted to consumerism and buying the latest thing on the market, obsessed with our free time, caught up in negativity,’ Crux reported.
His mother Antonia Salzano previously said that she now refers to her late son as her ‘saviour’ as he taught her more and more about his faith and credits him with her conversion into Christianity.
He grew up in Milan where he took care of his parish website and later that of a Vatican-based academy.
Acutis’s parents, Antonia (front) and Andrea (rear) are greeted by Cardinal Agostino Vallini during the beatification ceremony in Assisi, central Italy, in October 2020
An image of 15-year-old Carlo Acutis is seen during his beatification ceremony celebrated by Cardinal Agostino Vallini in the St Francis Basilica, in Assisi, Italy, in October 2020
Carlo (pictured) grew up in Milan where he took care of his parish website and later of a Vatican-based academy
Carlo is pictured as a young boy waving to the camera as he enjoys a holiday in the snow
Acutis (pictured) was a devout Christian when he was alive and attended daily mass
From the age of three, he would donate his pocket money to the poor and later at school supported victims of bullying and spent his evenings cooking and delivering meals to the homeless.
He told his parents in his final words: ‘I die happy because I didn’t spend any minutes of my life in things God doesn’t love.’
Even after his death, the youngster, informally known as ‘God’s influencer’, was performing miracles, supposedly healing a critically ill child and a brain bleed victim in 2012 and 2022.
He was raised by first an Irish nanny then a Polish one. They claim he was inspired in part by St Francis of Assisi, who was born in the same town Carlo was laid to rest.
Remarking over her late son, Ms Salzano told the Times: ‘Sometimes these beautiful [saints] are all very old and used to live in a very different world so young people don’t feel so close to them.
‘Carlo was young and handsome and always smiling and was a computer genius and would play on his PlayStation and Game Boy.
‘To have a saint that played with the same things as you do is something that really touches these young people.’
Ms Salzano said Carlo had a ‘special relationship’ with God from an early age, even though her family was not religious.
He was raised by first an Irish nanny then a Polish one. They claim he was inspired in part by St Francis of Assisi, who was born in the same town he was laid to rest
He also helped the homeless and stood up for bullied classmates at school. Pictured: Young Acutis with his dog at Christmas
His mother Antonia Salzano (pictured) refers to her late son as her ‘saviour’
She told Shalom Tidings that she had only ever been to mass three times before Carlo began dragging her to church at the age of three and a half.
Around the same time he began asking questions about his faith and engaging in practices she had never heard of including honouring existing saints, leaving flowers at shrines, and spending hours in church.
The youngster even limited himself to one hour of video games each day so that he could devote more time to his religion. ‘Every minute wasted is one less minute to glorify God,’ his mother said.
Since his death, He has garnered a global following, and his body was moved to the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, Assisi where it is currently on display.
In the UK, he has been remembered by the Archbishop of Birmingham, who in 2020 established the Parish of Blessed Carlo Acutis with churches in Wolverhampton and Wombourne.
