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5 months ago
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A London-born computer prodigy who died from leukaemia as a teenager is set to be made the Catholic Church's first ever millennial saint by Pope Francis after being credited with a series of miracles after his death.
Carlo Acutis, who died in 2006 aged 15, has been given the nicknames of 'God's influencer' and 'the patron saint of the internet' because of his devotion to promoting Christ's work online before he died.
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.
When he died shortly after being diagnosed with leukaemia, he told his parents: 'I'm happy to die because I've lived my life without wasting even a minute of it doing things that wouldn't have pleased God.'
And almost 20 years after his death Pope Francis has recognised a miracle attributed to Carlo after he passed away where the mother of a woman involved in a serious bike accident prayed at his grave and left a note asking for her to be healed in 2022.
The same day her daughter began to breathe independently and 10 days later she was discharged from intensive care because the haemorrhage in her brain had completely disappeared.
Pope Francis has now signed a decree which paves the way for Acutis becoming a saint.
Carlo was born in the UK to an Italian mother and a half-English, half-Italian father who was working in Britain as a merchant banker. The couple then moved to Milan where he took care of his parish website and later of a Vatican-based academy.
Carlo Acutis, who died of leukaemia in 2006 aged 15 and was informally known as 'God's influencer' and is about to become a saint
Born in London to an Italian mother and a half-English, half-Italian father who was working in the UK as a merchant banker, he grew up in Milan where he took care of his parish website and later of a Vatican-based academy
Carlo was a devout Christian (pictured) when he was alive and attended daily mass. Before he died, he set up a website where he researched and documented miracles attributed with the Eucharist
As well as being committed to his faith, Carlo also helped the homeless and stood up for bullied classmates at school. Pictured: Young Carlo with his dog at Christmas
Francis, 87, has canonised 912 people since he assumed the papacy in 2013, with the most recent birth date previously being 1926.
What are the five steps to becoming a saint?
Five-year wait: Five years usually needs to have passed after someone's death for the process to begin. This allows for a period of reflection on the case.
Servant of God: The bishop of the diocese where the person has died investigates whether their life was holy enough to be deemed a 'servant of God'.
Life of heroic virtue: The Congregation for the Causes of Saints looks at the case. If they approve it is passed onto the Pope, who declares the subject a person of 'heroic virtue'.
Beatification: A miracle needs to happen to a person who has prayed to the person in question.
Canonisation: A second miracle is attributed to the person who has been beatified.
Carlo died in Monza, Italy after moving to Milan as a child but was born in London to mother Antonia Salzano and father Andrea Acutis.
His mother said that her son dedicated himself to supporting classmates struggling with life, would defend disabled friends who were being bullied and would take meals out to homeless people across the city.
Catholics are encouraged to pray to deceased people who they believe are in heaven.
And Pope Francis believes that Carlo helped perform a miracle two years ago.
The miracle in question, according to the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, involved the healing of Valeria Valverde.
The Vatican has attributed to prayers made to Carlo, the miracle allowed Valeria, 21, to recover following a serious bicycle accident in 2022.
She was studying in Florence at the time of the crash.
Ms Valverde underwent an emergency operation to relieve pressure on her brain and was in a critical condition.
Six days later, her mother prayed for her daughter’s recovery at the tomb of Carlo in Italy.
On the same day, the church says Ms Valverde recovered the use of her limbs, was able to speak and signs of her head trauma disappeared.
She was discharged from intensive care ten days after her mother’s prayers and only needed a short stint of physiotherapy.
The Vatican has also claimed Carlo interceded from heaven in 2013 to cure a Brazilian boy suffering from a rare pancreatic disease.
Carlo (pictured) would be only the second Briton to become canonised in nearly 50 years, after Cardinal John Henry Newman was made a Saint last year
Since his death, Carlo has garnered a global following, and his body was moved to the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, Assisi where it is currently on display.
Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino of Assisi told The Times: ‘The Church in Assisi is in celebration. I plan to arrive in Assisi this evening to thank the Lord in a Eucharistic celebration. But as of now I join the faithful who are in the shrine for a prayer of praise.’
In the UK, Carlo has been remembered by the Archbishop of Birmingham, who in 2020 established the Parish of Blessed Carlo Acutis with churches in Wolverhampton and Wombourne.
Miracles, when reported, are investigated by the church to establish their validity and are understood to be an act that is impossible in nature.
There is no date for the canonisation, but such events can draw in huge audiences with thousands of pilgrims in attendance.
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