Carlo Acutis’s body displayed at Santa Maria Maggiore Church in Assisi. Photo: EPA
Carlo Acutis, a London-born Italian teenager who died at 15, has become the first millennial saint of the Catholic Church. Pope Leo XIV declared him a saint during a mass at St Peter’s Square, where tens of thousands gathered under the heat to celebrate.
Ceremony at St Peter’s Square
On Sunday, a massive crowd filled the square for the canonisation mass. More than 80,000 people, many young pilgrims from Italy and abroad, joined in the celebration. The event had a joyful and almost festival-like mood as Carlo’s family watched.
Large tapestries of Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati, another young Catholic activist declared a saint at the same ceremony, hung on the front of St Peter’s Basilica. Merchandise bearing Carlo’s image, from T-shirts to stickers, filled the streets around the square.
Pope’s Message
Pope Leo praised both men in his homily. “The greatest risk in life is to waste it outside of God’s plan,” he said. He described Carlo and Frassati as young people who turned their lives into “masterpieces” through faith and service. He urged young Catholics not to waste their lives but to look upwards.
The canonisation had been delayed earlier this year following the death of Pope Francis, who strongly supported Carlo’s path to sainthood.
Carlo’s Life and Work
Carlo Acutis was born in London on May 3, 1991, but grew up in Milan. His parents were not deeply religious, yet Carlo developed a strong devotion to Catholicism at a young age. He attended mass daily and prayed the rosary.
He combined faith with a passion for technology. A skilled coder, he built websites that documented Catholic miracles and promoted Church teachings, earning him the title “God’s influencer” and “cyber apostle.” He used the internet with discipline, limiting his video game time to one hour a week.
Carlo enjoyed sports, spending time with friends, and helping the poor around his neighbourhood. His mother, Antonia Salzano, described him as compassionate. “He could not be indifferent to sorrow,” she said.
In October 2006, Carlo was diagnosed with acute leukaemia. He died within days. He was buried in Assisi, the town of St Francis, where pilgrims soon began visiting his tomb.
Rise to Sainthood
From his death onward, many prayed to Carlo for healing. The Church later recognized two miracles attributed to him. The first involved a Brazilian boy cured of a rare pancreatic disease. The second was a student in Florence who recovered from brain bleeding after prayers at Carlo’s tomb.
Since his beatification in 2020, more than a million people have visited Assisi to see his body, displayed behind glass in a tracksuit and sneakers. His heart rests in a golden reliquary, while relics have travelled worldwide.
Carlo’s mother has toured globally, sharing his story with Catholic communities. She attended the mass with Carlo’s younger siblings, born after his death.
