The world’s first millennial is being canonised as a saint in Rome this Sunday after his tragic death in 2006.
Carlo Acutis died from leukaemia in 2006 at the age of 15. Originally born in London, where his father had a career in insurance, Carlo’s family moved to Milan when he was four months old.
Carlo’s mother, Antonia Salzano, said he wasn’t raised especially religious, but her son became devoted to Catholicism at a young age.
She said, “He would go to mass and do the rosary each day,” and recalled how her son “could not be indifferent to sorrow”.
She said: “We lived in the centre of Milan in a building surrounded by beggars. He wanted to help them, speak to them, bring them food and blankets.”
Carlo built websites to promote Catholicism, which dubbed him “God’s influencer” after his death.
Antonia said: “Carlo was an internet geek, but he had the temperance to use technology for good and was not exploited by it.”
Around the time of the teenager’s funeral, his mother said that miracles started to take place. One involved a Brazilian boy being cured of a rare disease.
The other involved healing a student in Florence whose mother had prayed at Carlo’s tomb. These miracles were later credited by the pope.
Over the course of the last year, over a million people have travelled to the Italian town of Assisi to Carlo’s tomb. The teenager lays resting in a blue tracksuit top, jeans and trainers, and is covered in a wax mould of his likeness.
The 15-year-old saint’s heart is in a gold casket in a cathedral nearby.
Ahead of his canonisation, pieces of organ tissue have travelled the world alongside his mother, who is delivering speeches to communities of believers and giving them strands of her son’s hair.
A collection of Carlo’s relics is on display in a chapel in Rome, kept in a see-through safe that visitors can look into.
Relics include a splinter from his bed, part of the sheet that covered him after he died, and a piece of his jumper.
Parish priest Danilo Spagnoletti said: “Praying close to a saint’s remains helps [people] to face difficulties in life,
“In particular, this saint, who had a short life but was far advanced in many ways, is a source of inspiration for young people.”
Carlo will be canonised by newly elected Pope Leo, alongside Pier Giergio Frassati, a young Catholic activist who died over 100 years ago.
The event, which takes place on Sunday, is expected to draw thousands of visitors to Rome.
The Catholic church hopes that the canonisation will draw more young people into the faith and in a short time frame, the young saint has already gained a huge following.
However, some have levelled criticism towards the church for the speed of the canonisation and questioned whether it was appropriate in the first place.
However, Antonia stood by the decision and said it gave her hope for future generations.
“Carlo reminds us that it’s possible for everyone to become a saint,” she said.
