An Italian teenager, Carlo Acutis, who sadly died from leukemia in 2006 at 15 years old, could become the world’s first millennial saint.
The boy, now often called the ‘patron saint of the internet’, helped to spread the Roman Catholic teaching online. This involved recording miracles and running sites for Catholic organisations. He, essentially, helped to bring Roman Catholicism into the modern age.
For this, the head of the Vatican’s saint-making department, Cardinal Angelo Becciu, said that he was a good candidate to become the protector of web surfers. The Congregation for the Causes of Saints said: “That’s my hope — he would be an ideal example for all young people,”
Carlo was born to Italian parents in London in May 1991. He then spent most of his life living in Milan.
On Saturday 10th October, Carlo Acutis was beautified in a ceremony held at the Basilica of St. Francis in the Italian town of Assisi. This is the final step towards becoming a saint.
According to the Catholic News Agency, Carlo was made eligible in 2013 to potentially become a saint after the Vatican ruled that he had miraculously saved another boy’s life.
The church reported that Carlo cured a Brazilian boy of his rare pancreatic disease.
During the beautification ceremony, Cardinal Vallini, stated:
“The Church rejoices, because in this very young Blessed the Lord’s words are fulfilled: ‘I have chosen you and appointed you to go and bear much fruit.’
And Carlo ‘went’ and brought the fruit of holiness, showing it as a goal reachable by all and not as something abstract and reserved for a few.
He was an ordinary boy, simple, spontaneous, likeable … he loved nature and animals, he played football, he had many friends of his age, he was attracted by modern means of social communication, passionate about computer science and, self-taught, he built websites to transmit the Gospel, to communicate values and beauty.”
About 3,000 people reportedly flocked to the Basilica of St. Francis to watch the mass with many pilgrims in masks watching on large screens outside the Basilica St. Francis.
People don’t always flock to Italy to be respectful, however. One tourist traveled to Italy and carved his initials into the Colosseum. Read more here.
