(RepublicanNews.org) – An Italian teenager who died almost 20 years ago will be officially declared a saint by the Catholic Church, making him the first saint from the Millennial Generation.
After Pope Francis recognized what the church considers a second miracle connected to Carlo Acutis, the Vatican canonized the Italian teenager who died in 2006 from leukemia. The 15-year-old computer prodigy, who became known as “God’s influencer” for using his computer skills to preach Catholicism in the early period of social media, will become the first millennial to become a saint.
Acutis was born in 1991 in London, England, and his family later moved to Italy and settled in Milan. The boy’s parents weren’t religious, but his Polish nanny was deeply Catholic and nurtured his budding faith. The computer programmer and gamer went on to create a website that focused on documenting miracles. On Oct. 12th, 2006, Acutis succumbed to leukemia, and his body was brought to Assisi to be displayed at a shrine, where it remains today with relics related to the teenager.
Nearly two decades later, on Thursday, May 23rd, the Pope met with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, and approved multiple decrees related to candidates proposed for canonization. The most interesting candidate among the men and women proposed was Acutis, who was already beatified by the Pope in Assisi back in 2020 after his first attributed miracle. That miracle was related to a boy in Brazil who is believed to have been healed by Acutis of a pancreas birth defect.
At least two miracles must typically be attributed to a prospective candidate for sainthood before the church canonizes them. The second miracle attributed to Acutis is the supposed healing by the dead teenager of a Costa Rican girl after she suffered severe head trauma in a bicycle accident in Florence. The girl’s mother reportedly went to Assisi and prayed at Acutis’ tomb, after which the girl recovered.
The Pope will now have to convene a meeting in which the cardinals will agree on the boy’s designation to sainthood and a date will be set for the official canonization.
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