‘God’s influencer’ set to become a saint

An Italian teenager who died in 2006 will become the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint. See why.

A 15-year-old computer whiz who died of Leukaemia in 2006 will become the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint after his canonisation was approved by church officials.

Italian teen Carlo Acutis used his computing prowess to spread awareness of the Catholic faith in the early-aughts, becoming known as “God’s influencer” and the “patron saint of the internet”.

According to the Vatican News, Pope Francis and a group of cardinals approved Acutis for canonisation this week. The video-graming teen will likely be proclaimed a saint next year, in the church’s jubilee year.

Cardinals, bishops, friars and priests attend the beatification ceremony of Carlo Acutis at the St. Francis Basilica on October 10, 2020 in Assisi, Italy. Picture: Vatican Pool/Getty Images

Acutis was a devoted Catholic who built a strong following across the world before and after his death. His websites had a “spiritual focus” and collated a database of miracles.

He was also involved in two healing miracles after he died, which is the number needed for Catholics to become saints.

Becoming a saint normally takes many years, but Acutis’ canonisation has likely been speeded up because of his youth and what he represents for young Catholics in the digital age.

In 2013, Pope Francis approved the cause for his beatification and canonisation, naming the teenager a “Servant of God.”

A teenager who spread faith by computer will be canonized by the Catholic Church. Picture: Supplied

Seven years later, in October 2020, Acutis was beatified after the Vatican officially recognised he interceded from heaven in 2013 to save a four-year-old Brazilian child with a rare pancreatic disease.

The Vatican proclaimed that the child, Matheus Vianna, was healed after he prayed to Acutis and touched clothing belonging to him.

In May this year, a second miracle was attributed to him after a Costa Rican girl fell off her bike and suffered serious head trauma. The girl’s mother prayed at Acutis’ tomb in Assisi in Italy, and her daughter recovered fully.

The canonisation ceremy will likely take place in St Peter’s Square in Vatican City in Rome. This will be when Acutis will officially be declared a saint.

The teen’s mother Antonia Salzano described her son as a “sign of hope”.

“As I did, you too can become holy,” she told CNN. “Nevertheless, with all the media, the technologies, it seems sometimes that holiness is something that belongs to the past. Instead, holiness is also something nowadays in this modern time.”