The Vatican canonizes 15-year-old programmer
A 15-year-old Italian has become the first millennial saint in the history of the Roman Catholic Church.
On September 7, 2025, Pope Leo XIV canonized Carlo Acutis, an Italian teenager who died of leukemia in 2006 at the age of 15. The ceremony took place in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican, attended by more than 80,000 faithful.
Acutis became the first saint in the history of the RCC to be born in the modern era. He has been nicknamed the “Patron of the Internet” and “God’s Influencer” for his use of modern technology to spread the faith.
Along with Acutis, Pier Giorgio Frassati – an Italian Catholic from the early 20th century who died in 1925 at the age of 24 – was also canonized. Both canonizations were the first of Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate.
Present at the ceremony were Acutis’ parents, Andrea Acutis and Antonia Salzano, as well as his younger siblings. It was a rare instance in which the family of a saint was present at the canonization.
The process began in 2012, when the Archdiocese of Milan opened his cause for beatification. In 2018, Pope Francis declared him Venerable, and in 2020 he was beatified following recognition of a first miracle in Brazil. In 2024, a second miracle was confirmed in Costa Rica, paving the way for his canonization.
Carlo Acutis was born on May 3, 1991, in London to a wealthy Italian family. The family later moved to Milan, where the boy developed a passion for programming and internet technologies. However, his greatest love was the Eucharist.
After receiving his First Communion at the age of 7, he told his mother: “To always be united with Jesus – this is my life’s goal.” Acutis sought to attend Mass daily and called the Eucharist “my highway to heaven.”
The teenager created a website cataloguing Eucharistic miracles from around the world and used the internet for evangelization. His witness inspired his parents to return to active faith practice, and even led his Hindu nanny to convert to Catholicism.
Since his beatification in 2020, Acutis has become the focus of widespread veneration, especially among young people. His tomb in Assisi is livestreamed 24 hours a day, while believers from around the world send requests for intercession online.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that the RCC used silicone to give Acutis’ body the appearance of “incorruptibility.”
