A British-born teenager who was a devout Catholic before dying of leukaemia at just 15 has been canonised as the first millennial saint by Pope Leo.
Carlo Acutis, born in London to Italian parents in 1991, created websites documenting “miracles” before his death in 2006. Today he was declared a saint during an open-air Mass in St Peter’s Square, Rome, before thousands of worshippers.
The Vatican said the canonisation was intended to inspire young Catholics with a relatable role model — someone who embraced technology to spread the faith and earned the nickname “God’s influencer”.
According to the Vatican, 36 cardinals, 270 bishops and hundreds of priests joined Pope Leo in celebrating the Mass, reflecting the huge appeal of Acutis to both the church hierarchy and ordinary believers.
Carlo was born on 3 May 1991 in London to a wealthy Catholic family, though they were not regular churchgoers. Soon after his birth the family moved to Milan, where he enjoyed a happy childhood marked by a growing religious devotion.
He developed a fascination with computer science, studying university-level programming books as a child. His lasting legacy was a multilingual website documenting Eucharistic miracles recognised by the Catholic Church, a project normally undertaken by professionals at the time.
Known as “God’s Influencer”, Carlo balanced his faith with modern life. He prayed for hours daily before the Eucharist and limited himself to an hour of video games each week, long before the age of TikTok, insisting that real relationships mattered more than virtual ones.
In October 2006, at just 15, he was diagnosed with acute leukaemia and died within days. He was entombed in Assisi, famed as the home of St Francis. Millions of pilgrims have since travelled there to see Carlo’s glass-sided tomb, where he is displayed in jeans, trainers and a sweatshirt.
For many young Catholics, Carlo has become a relatable role model. “It’s like I can maybe not be as great as Carlo may be, but I can be looking after him and be like, ‘What would Carlo do?’” said Leo Kowalsky, a secondary school pupil in Chicago, whose school is attached to the Blessed Carlo Acutis Parish.
The student said he was especially excited that his namesake, Pope Leo, was canonising the patron of his school.
At the same Mass, Pope Leo also canonised Pier Giorgio Frassati, a young Italian who died in 1925 of polio aged 24. Born into a prominent Turin family, Frassati is remembered for his charity work and devotion to the poor.
Pope Leo praised both men, saying they had created “masterpieces” of their lives by dedicating themselves to God. “The greatest risk in life is to waste it outside of God’s plan,” he told worshippers.
The new saints, he added, “are an invitation to all of us, especially young people, not to squander our lives, but to direct them upwards and make them masterpieces.”
