Italian teenager nicknamed ‘God’s influencer’ becomes the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint

Carlo Acutis, an Italian teenager and computer prodigy nicknamed “God’s Influencer,” will soon become the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint.

Pope Francis has recognized a second miracle attributed to Acutis, a gamer and computer programmer who died of leukemia in 2006 at the age of 15.

During his lifetime, Acutis used his technological skills to spread awareness of the Catholic faith, including setting up a website documenting miracles.

Carlo Acutis

Vatican/Getty Images via CNN Newsource

Born in London in 1991, he later moved to Milan, Italy with his family. Although Acutis’s parents were not religious, the young boy’s faith was nurtured by his Polish nanny. After his death, his body was moved to the Italian city of Assisi, where it is now displayed in a shrine, along with other relics associated with him.

Potential candidates for canonization must normally be attributed two miracles before they can be canonized. The latest miracle attributed to Acutis involves the reported healing of a Costa Rican girl who suffered head trauma after falling from her bicycle in Florence, Italy, where she was studying. Her mother said she prayed for her daughter’s recovery at Acutis’ grave in Assisi.

Acutis was beatified and declared “blessed” after his first miracle in 2020, when he reportedly healed a Brazilian boy who had a birth defect in his pancreas that prevented him from eating normal food.

After the attribution of two miracles, the next step is for the Pope to convene a meeting of cardinals to agree on Acutis’ canonization and set a date for the canonization.

His story is seen as useful for the Catholic Church as it seeks to better connect with younger generations in a digital age.

Acutis – considered a millennial as he was born between the early 1980s and the mid-1990s – is remembered by friends and family as someone who enjoyed playing video games such as Halo, Super Mario and Pokémon.

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