Particle.news
Download on the App Store
9 ARTICLES
·
5d ago

Pope Leo XIV Canonizes Carlo Acutis, Catholicism’s First Millennial Saint

The teenage web developer known as “God’s influencer” is elevated for a legacy of digital evangelization that resonates with young Catholics.

Pope Leo XIV holds an open-air jubiliar audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, a day ahead of the canonization of Carlo Acutis who's portrait is hanging at right, and Pier Giorgio Frazzati, portrait at left. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
From left, the mother of Blessed Carlo Acutis, Antonia, with her children Michele and Francesca attend the screening of the film 'Carlo Acutis, roadmap to reality' at Rome's Pontifical North American College, Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)
Pope Leo XIV is greeted by Bishops in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican during an open-air jubiliar audience Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, a day ahead of the canonization of Carlo Acutis who's portrait is hanging at top right. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Pope Leo XIV waves to faithful holding a picture of Blessed Carlo Acutis, who will be canonized Sunday, as he arrives in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican for an open-air jubiliar audience Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Overview

  • Pope Leo XIV led the canonization at the Vatican, formally declaring the Italian teenager a saint.
  • Church authorities credited two healings to his intercession, including a 2014 Brazilian case and a 2022 Costa Rican recovery.
  • Acutis built an interactive website at age 11 cataloguing Eucharistic miracles worldwide, which remains online and has toured as an exhibition.
  • His tomb in Assisi has been opened to pilgrims, with a wax-preserved likeness in jeans and sneakers and a live video stream available.
  • The ceremony was the first canonization of Pope Leo XIV after a previously planned April date was postponed following Pope Francis’s death.