Italian teenager dubbed 'God's influencer' to become Catholic Church's first millennial saint

Carlo Acutis, an Italian teenager and computer prodigy nicknamed “God's influencer,” is set to become the Catholic Church's first millennial saint.

Pope Francis has recognized a second miracle attributed to Acutis, a computer gamer and programmer who died of leukemia in 2006 at the age of 15.

During his life, Acutis used his technological skills to spread awareness of the Catholic faith, including creating a website documenting miracles.

Born in London in 1991, he later moved to Milan, Italy with his family. Although Acutis' parents were not religious, the young boy's faith was nurtured by his Polish nanny. After his death, his body was moved to the Italian city of Assisi, where it is now on display in a shrine, alongside other relics linked to him.

Potential candidates for sainthood must normally be assigned two miracles before they can be canonized. The latest miracle attributed to Acutis involves the recovery of a young girl from Costa Rica who suffered a head injury after falling from her bicycle in Florence, Italy, where she was studying. Her mother said she prayed for her daughter's recovery at Acutis' grave in Assisi.

Acutis was beatified and declared “blessed” after his first miracle in 2020, when he reportedly healed a Brazilian boy who suffered from a birth defect in his pancreas that prevented him from eating normally.

After the attribution of two miracles, the next step is for the pope to call a meeting of the cardinals to agree on the sainthood of Acutis and decide on a date for the canonization.

His story is seen as helpful to the Catholic Church as it seeks to better connect with younger generations in the digital age.

Acutis – considered a millennial because he was born between the early 1980s and mid-1990s – is remembered by friends and family as loving playing video games such as Halo, Super Mario and Pokémon.

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