VATICAN CITY: Tens of thousands of pilgrims gathered at the Vatican for the canonisation of Italian teenager Carlo Acutis, who will become the first millennial saint.
Pope Leo XIV will lead the solemn ceremony in St Peter’s Square for the 15-year-old who died of leukaemia in 2006 and was known as “God’s Influencer” for spreading Catholic faith online.
Acutis’s body, dressed in jeans and Nike trainers, lies in a glass-walled tomb in Assisi that attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors annually.
The canonisation was originally scheduled for April but postponed following the death of Pope Francis, making this the first such ceremony for US-born Pope Leo.
Over 800 people travelled to Rome on a special train from Assisi to attend the mass, which began at 10:00 am local time.
The ceremony was also broadcast on giant screens in Assisi, a medieval pilgrimage city in Italy’s Umbria region.
Acutis’s mother Antonia Salzano expressed gratitude for the widespread attention, stating that her son’s life demonstrates that everyone is called to be saints.
Born in London in 1991 to Italian parents, Acutis developed a strong faith despite his parents not being particularly devout.
He grew up in Milan where he attended mass daily and was known for his kindness toward bullied children and homeless people.
A computer enthusiast, Acutis taught himself coding and created online documentation of miracles and Catholic teachings.
Bishop Domenico Sorrentino of Assisi encouraged young people to follow Acutis’s positive example rather than violent or fleeting trends.
The Vatican recognised two miracles attributed to Acutis since his death, both involving healings after relatives prayed for his intercession.
He was beatified in 2020 by Pope Francis, completing the necessary steps toward sainthood in the Catholic Church. – AFP