The Catholic Church will soon get its first millennial saint, an Italian teenager who designed websites for the church, Pope Francis announced Wednesday.
Carlo Acutis, a 15-year-old who died of leukemia in 2006, will be canonized in April next year, the pope said at his weekly audience in the Vatican. Acutis was beatified in 2020 after a miracle was formally attributed to him, one of the last steps in the lengthy process to sainthood, with a second miracle recognized in May.
The teen, who has been nicknamed “God’s influencer,” was a devout Catholic and used his computer coding skills to create a website chronicling Catholic miracles and apparitions. His wax-encased body, wearing jeans and Nike sneakers, is displayed in a tomb in the Italian town of Assisi and draws thousands of pilgrims each year.
“I want to say that next year on the day of children and adolescents, I will canonize Carlo Acutis,” the pope said, referring to the weekend of April 25-27, when a church event for young people will take place.
Acutis’ unusually speedy path to sainthood, which often takes many decades, comes amid a sharp decline in membership of the Catholic Church in the U.S. and elsewhere, especially among young people.
Elena Giordano contributed to this report.
