15-Year-Old Known as 'God's Influencer' to Be First Millennial Saint After Pope Approves Canonization
Pope Francis and the College of Cardinals voted to approve Carlo Acutis' canonization on July 1
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Carlo Acutis.A video game and computer-loving teenager known as "God's influencer" who died at age 15 will become the first Millennial saint.
On Monday, July 1, the College of Cardinals met with Pope Francis in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace for an Ordinary Public Consistory, where they voted to approve the canonization of Carlo Acutis, per the Vatican News.
A date when Acutis will be recognized as a saint is yet to be announced, but the outlet stated it's likely to happen during the 2025 Jubilee; an event that's celebrated by the Catholic Church every 25 years.
Per the Vatican News, the Pope previously stated that the Jubilee Year would begin with the opening of the Holy Door of St Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 24, 2024, and will end in churches throughout the world on Dec. 28, 2025. It will come to a close in Rome during the Solemnity of Epiphany on Jan. 6, 2026, the outlet reported.
Acutis — who was a web designer and documented Eucharistic miracles — was born in London, England on May 3, 1991, and died from leukemia on Oct. 12, 2006 in Monza, Italy. He will become the first person born between 1981 and 1996 to be recognized as a saint.
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A tapestry featuring a portrait of Carlo Acutis hangs at the St. Francis Basilica during his beatification ceremony on October 10, 2020 in Assisi, Italy.The late teenager's body currently lies on display in an open tomb in Assisi, Italy, where he is dressed in blue jeans and black Nike sneakers, which was reportedly one of his favorite things to wear.
In May, PEOPLE reported that Acutis was expected to become the first millennial saint before it was confirmed on Monday.
The Pope already beatified Acutis in 2020. This process is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and their capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name.
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People attend the beatification ceremony of Carlo Acutis at the St. Francis Basilica on October 10, 2020 in Assisi, Italy.To be canonized as a saint, two miracles have to be attributed to the person in question. Per Catholic news site Aleteia, Acutis was attributed with his first miracle for healing a young Brazilian boy from annular pancreas, which is a rare congenital disease.
His second miracle then involved a woman named Liliana from Costa Rica whose daughter Valeria was left with severe head trauma and multiple other injuries after falling from her bicycle in Florence, where she was a university student, on July 2, 2022, the Vatican News reported.
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Per the outlet, doctors had said Valeria had a low chance of survival. Liliana's secretary then started praying to Acutis, before Liliana traveled to his tomb on July 8 of that year. Later that day, Valeria began to "breathe spontaneously."
On July 18, a scan showed her hemorrhage had disappeared after she began to regain her speech and was able to move again the day after Liliana visited Acutis' tomb. By Sept. 2, Valeria was able to make the pilgrimage to Acutis' tomb with her mother to thank him, reported the Vatican News.
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