E-Paper
Carlo Acutis to become first millennial saint. What miracles did he perform?
On September 7, Carlo Acutis will be canonized as the first millennial saint in a ceremony led by Pope Leo XIV at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.
On September 7, Carlo Acutis will be canonized as the first millennial saint in a ceremony led by Pope Leo XIV at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. Tens of thousands of worshippers are expected to attend the canonization of the Italian teenager, who died in 2006 at just 15 years old.
God’s Influencer to millennial saint
Known as “God’s influencer,” Acutis used his self-taught computing skills to spread the Catholic faith online. Using his family’s small, old computer, he created a website cataloging more than 100 Eucharistic miracles worldwide that had been recognized by the church.
His use of the internet to publicize miracles drew young Catholics across the globe.
“He wanted to help people to discover their faith, to discover God, the love of God. And all his life was spent for this. Even if he lived a normal life, like young boys of his age,” his mother, Antonia Salzano, was quoted as saying by NBC News.
A childhood of faith
Carlo Acutis was born in London in 1991 to Italian parents Andrea Acutis, a merchant banker, and Antonia Salzano. The family later moved back to Milan, where he grew up. From an early age, his mother recalls, Carlo “was always generous with his things.”
“If I wanted to buy, for example, two pairs of shoes, he used to say, ‘No, one is sufficient because there are people who are starving who don’t have anything to eat. So we don’t have to waste money. Let’s help other people.’”
He was also deeply rooted in his faith, according to the NBC report. After receiving his First Communion at the age of 7, he began attending daily Mass and teaching catechism in his local parish. Salzano said she believed he would likely have pursued the priesthood, as he had asked her about joining the church.
To her, however, he remained a relatable teenager: “He was a normal kid, he was a normal person, but he opened the door of his heart to God.”
(Also read: Who was Carlo Acutis, first ‘millennial' who will become a ‘saint’?)
Miracles attributed to Carlo
Carlo’s path to sainthood began in 2020, when Pope Francis approved the first miracle attributed to him, involving the healing of Matheus Vianna, a 7-year-old boy from Brazil suffering from a rare pancreatic disorder. The boy is said to have recovered after coming into contact with one of Carlo’s T-shirts.
A second miracle was attributed to Carlo and recognized in 2022, when Costa Rican student Valeria Valverde was completely healed from severe head trauma sustained in a bicycle accident. Her mother had prayed at Carlo’s tomb.
The Vatican has confirmed both cases as miracles, clearing the way for his canonization.
Death and legacy
Carlo Acutis died in Milan in 2006 of acute promyelocytic leukemia. His body now rests in Assisi in a uniquely designed glass-walled tomb, displayed in the Church of St Mary Major. The body is dressed in jeans and a pair of Nike trainers.
According to a Daily Mail report, exhumed 13 years after his death, Carlo’s remains were said to be miraculously undecomposed
