Millennial Influencer Set to Become First Saint Endorsed by Divinity

Carlo Acutis, an Italian teenager born in London in 1991, will make history as the first millennial saint in the Catholic Church. His canonization ceremony, presided over by Pope Leo XIV, is scheduled for Sunday, September 7, 2025, in St Peter's Square at the Vatican.

Despite his parents not being particularly devout, Carlo Acutis had an ardent faith. He taught himself basic coding to document miracles and elements of the Catholic faith online. His digital work has been instrumental in his journey towards sainthood.

The path to sainthood involves a long and meticulous process, including an investigation by the Vatican and specialists who assess whether the obligatory miracles have taken place. In the case of Carlo Acutis, the Vatican has recognized two miracles: the healing of a Brazilian child with a rare pancreatic malformation and the recovery of a Costa Rican student injured in an accident. Both healing cases involved relatives praying for help from Carlo Acutis, who was beatified in 2020 by Pope Francis.

Carlo Acutis attended mass daily and had a reputation for kindness towards bullied children and homeless people. He would bring food and sleeping bags to homeless people in Milan, Italy. His life was cut short by leukemia in 2006 at the age of 15.

His body is currently in a glass-walled tomb in Assisi, Italy, and is visited by hundreds of thousands of people annually. The initial canonization date was April, but it was postponed due to the death of Pope Francis. The ceremony will now take place under the leadership of Pope Leo XIV, who will celebrate for the first time the canonization of a Millennial saint.

The canonization ceremony will be a significant event, attended by thousands of pilgrims. It will mark a milestone in the Catholic Church, as it embraces the digital age and recognizes the impact of young individuals in spreading faith and performing miracles.