Pope Francis to make British boy, who died aged 15, first Millennial saint

A British boy, who died aged 15, will become the first Millennial saint after Pope Francis decreed his second posthumous miracle.

A British boy who died of leukaemia aged 15 is to become the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint.

Pope Francis decreed that a second posthumous miracle has been attributed to Carlo Acutis, qualifying the teenager for canonisation, the official admission of a dead person into sainthood.

Acutis was born in London to Italian mother and a half-English, half-Italian father in 1991, making him the first millennial to be canonised, the BBC reports.

He died in 2006, just a week after being diagnosed with the blood cancer, aged 15.

Pope Francis announced Carlo Acutis, who died in 2006 aged 15, will become a saint. Picture: Tiziana FABI / AFP

Before his death, Acutis – a “computer prodigy” – helped to spread Roman Catholic teaching online by building a website that documented Eucharistic miracles and approved Marian apparitions.

Acutis was beatified, the first step towards sainthood, in 2020, after he was officially attributed with his first miracle – healing a Brazilian child of a congenital disease affecting his pancreas.

The second miracle was approved by the Pope following a meeting with the Vatican’s saint-making department, The Standard reports.

It involved the healing of university student in Florence who had bleeding on the brain after suffering head trauma.

It’s not known when Acutis will be canonised following the Pope’s announcement he will become a saint on Thursday.

The boy has earned the nickname ‘God influencer’ after his website dedicated to cataloguing each reported Eucharistic miracle in the world became a hit following his death. Picture: Vatican Pool/Getty Images

The early nature of Acutis’ entry into sainthood is quite remarkable. Out of 912 people canonised by Pope Francis, the most recent birth date was previously 1926, The Guardian stated.

The devout Catholic, who earned the nickname “God’s influencer” after his online work earned him a following posthumously, caught the attention of the Vatican due to his computer teachings.

After being diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukaemia, he offered his sufferings for Pope Benedict XVI and the Church, saying: “I offer all of my suffering to the Lord for the pope and for the Church in order not to go to purgatory but to go straight to heaven.”

Following his death in Monza, Italy, his body was moved to Assisi, where it currently resides on full display alongside other relics linked to him.

He’s the first person from the Millennial generation to be recognised into sainthood. Picture: Vatican Pool/Getty Images

When the Catholic Church first announced it was considering him as a patron saint, his mother described her joy at the potential honour.

“Sometimes these beautiful [saints] are all very old and used to live in a very different world so young people don’t feel so close to them,” she told The Times.

“Carlo was young and handsome and always smiling and was a computer genius and would play on his PlayStation and Game Boy.

“To have a saint that played with the same things as you do is something that really touches these young people.”

Originally published as Pope Francis to make British boy, who died aged 15, first Millennial saint