What to know about Carlo Acutis, the Catholic Church’s new millennial saint

Carlo Acutis volition go the Catholic Church’s archetypal millennial saint astatine a solemn canonization Mass connected April 27 successful St. Peter’s Square. But throngs of pilgrims are already flocking to the religion successful Assisi, Italy, wherever his assemblage wearing sneakers, jeans and a sweatshirt lies successful a shrine.

Here’s much connected the teenage lad who’s generating uncommon devotion.

Who was Carlo Acutis?

Carlo Acutis was calved connected May 3, 1991, successful London to a affluent Italian family, and grew up successful Milan. His precocious religion travel took disconnected aft helium received First Communion astatine the young property of 7, and helium regularly attended regular Mass, prayed the rosary and participated successful eucharistic adoration.

While helium enjoyed regular pastimes for his property — hiking, video games, and joking astir with friends – helium besides taught catechism successful a section parish and did outreach to the homeless.

Acutis utilized his machine savvy to make an online grounds astir much than 100 eucharistic miracles recognized by the religion implicit galore centuries, focused connected the existent beingness of Christ that Catholics judge is successful the consecrated breadstuff and wine.

In October 2006, astatine property 15, helium fell ill. Ten days later, helium died of acute leukemia astatine a infirmary successful bluish Italy. His assemblage was aboriginal transferred to an Assisi cemetery arsenic Acutis had asked, due to the fact that of his devotion to the hometown medieval saint, St. Francis.

Why is helium astir to go a saint?

His roadworthy to sainthood — the canonization process — started much than 10 years agone astatine the inaugural of a radical of priests and friends, and formally took disconnected soon aft Pope Francis began his papacy successful 2013.

Acutis was named “venerable” successful 2018 aft the religion recognized his virtuous life, and his assemblage was taken to a shrine successful Assisi’s Santuario della Spogliazione, a large tract linked to St. Francis' life.

He was past declared “blessed” successful 2020 aft the Vatican dicastery that studies sainthood processes recognized a miraculous healing done Acutis’ intercession — a kid successful Brazil who recovered successful a “scientifically inexplainable” manner.

Last year, the religion paved his mode to sainthood by attributing to him a 2nd occurrence — the implicit healing of a Costa Rican pupil successful Italy from large caput trauma successful a bicycle mishap aft her parent prayed astatine Acutis’ tomb.

Acutis' canonization Mass volition beryllium Sunday, April 27, astatine 10:30 a.m. successful beforehand of the Vatican's St. Peter Basilica, successful conjunction with the solemnisation of the Holy Year’s jubilee for teens.

How fashionable is Acutis, the archetypal millennial saint?

The Rev. Domenico Sorrentino, Assisi's bishop, said that implicit the past year, a cardinal pilgrims made their mode to Acutis’ shrine successful this medieval hilltop municipality successful cardinal Italy.

Images of Acutis, usually portraying him with a backpack and smiling broadly, are successful shops each implicit town, from pocket-sized cards to statuettes. A spiritual souvenir store adjacent the Vatican precocious displayed successful its model a near-life-sized statue of Acutis adjacent to 1 of Mother Teresa of Kolkata.

To galore pilgrims, the gully is Acutis’ relatability arsenic a teen of this time.

“It’s astonishing this saint, a young idiosyncratic — we tin suggest him to our radical to imitate due to the fact that everybody tin beryllium a saint,” said Rev. Jacinto Bento, a Portuguese clergyman who was starring a radical of 30 jubilee pilgrims from the Azores islands to Assisi earlier this month.

The aforesaid day, Tomaso Barbon of Treviso, successful bluish Italy, was visiting the shrine with his woman and 3 children, 2 of them teens.

“He appears similar 1 of our kids,” Barbon said of Acutis. “A peculiar supplication to him is truly welcome.”

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