A 15-year-old web designer from Italy known as "God's influencer" is set to become the first-ever millennial saint.
Pope Francis and Vatican cardinals on Monday voted to approve the canonization of Carlo Acutis and 14 others, the Vatican News reported.
Born in 1991, Acutis became interested in Catholicism at a young age and is noted for creating a website tracking Eucharistic miracles and Marian apparitions round the world before his death from leukemia in 2006. The website has been hailed as the church "as a way to use modern technology for spiritual good," according to NPR . He's also credited with helping homeless people and defending victims of bullying.
The teen was beatified by Pope Francis in 2020 -- a process that recognizes a person's entrance into heaven and establishes them as "blessed" along with the capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. The recognition was granted after Acutis was attributed with his first miracle: saving the life of a 4-year-old Brazilian boy who was suffering from a rare pancreatic condition and described by reports as on the verge of death. After coming into contact with a relic of Acutis and touching a piece of his clothing, the boy was cured, according to Aletia .
Other followers have reported miracles after praying to Acutis or making a pilgrimage to his tomb in Assisi, Italy.
The second miracle attributed to Acutis happened in 2022, according to the Vatican News . A woman from Costa Rica prayed at his tomb on July 8, six days after her daughter fell from a bicycle and suffered severe head trauma, which required craniotomy surgery with what doctors said was a very low chance of survival. That same day, the daughter began to breathe spontaneously and the next day, she began to move and partially regained her speech, according to the report. On July 18, scans showed the brain hemorrhage had disappeared and on August 11, the daughter was moved to rehabilitation therapy. By September 2, she was well enough to visit Acutis' tomb to thank him for his intercession, the Vatican News reported.
Acutis is the first person born between 1981 and 1996 to be granted sainthood. He's one of 15 who received formal approval for canonization from the pope on July 1. The others include the 11 "Martyrs of Damascus" who were killed during the 1860 Syrian Civil War, and three founders of religious orders.
While no exact date was announced, Acutis will reportedly be proclaimed a saint in 2025, when the church celebrates its jubilee year.
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