Pope Francis paves way for first millennial saint, ‘God’s influencer’

• Pope Francis has attributed a second miracle to teenage website developer Carlo Acutis.
• This paves the way for Acutis, who was born in 1991, to become the first millennial saint.
• The tech whizz, sometimes called ‘God’s influencer,’ died of leukemia in 2006 at age 15.

Pope Francis has attributed a second miracle to a teenage website developer, paving the way for him to become the first millennial saint.

Carlo Acutis, born in 1991 in the United Kingdom and raised in Italy, is sometimes referred to as “God’s influencer” and the “patron saint of the internet.”

He died at age 15 from leukemia in October 2006.

During his brief life, Acutis created a website cataloging each Eucharistic miracle in the world and listing approved Marian apparitions of the Catholic Church.

Cardinal Agostino Vallini praised Acutis at his beatification ceremony, according to BBC News, saying, “Carlo used the internet in service of the Gospel to reach as many people as possible.”

The path to sainthood typically requires two miracles attributed to prayers made to an individual after their death. Then, canonization can take place.

Acutis was beatified by Pope Francis in October 2020 after a first miracle was attributed to him, involving a Brazilian boy born with a pancreatic defect who said he was healed after praying to Acutis.

According to Vatican News, the news portal of the Holy See, the second miracle involved a Costa Rican woman whose daughter had a bicycle accident and was given a low chance of survival by doctors.

Vatican News said the mother, Liliana, prayed at Acutis’ tomb in Assisi, Italy, and claimed that her daughter recovered soon after.

In a bulletin on Thursday, the Holy See confirmed that the Pope had decided to convene a consistory, a formal meeting of the College of Cardinals, to discuss the canonization of Acutis.

It is unclear when the canonization would take place.

The Holy See Press Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Acutis’ mother, Antonia Salzano, told Vatican News in 2022 that her son was considered a “computer genius” who knew how to code at an advanced level from a young age.

But he didn’t use social media to “chat, have fun, or anything like that,” she said, he used his talents for his “zeal for the Lord and his love for the knowledge of Jesus.”