Carlo Acutis, known as “God’s Influencer,” is to be canonised on Sunday at the Vatican.
Tens of thousands of pilgrims are expected in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday as the Vatican canonises Carlo Acutis. The mass, set for 10:00 am (0800 GMT), will also be shown on giant screens in Assisi, where over 800 faithful are travelling by a special train.
This marks the first canonisation by US-born Pope Leo XIV, who took over following Pope Francis’s death.
Born in London in 1991 to Italian parents and raised in Milan, Acutis demonstrated a strong faith from an early age, despite his parents not being devout. He attended daily mass, helped homeless people with food and blankets, and was kind to bullied children.
Fond of computer games, he taught himself coding and used it to share Catholic teachings and document miracles online, earning the nickname “God’s Influencer” or the “cyber-apostle.”
His body, dressed in jeans and Nike trainers, lies in a glass tomb in Assisi, drawing visitors from across the world. His mother, Antonia Salzano, said her son was proof that “we are all called to be saints… everyone is special.”
A large tapestry with his image now hangs in St. Peter’s Basilica ahead of the mass.
The Vatican credits Acutis with two miracles: the healing of a Brazilian boy with a rare pancreatic illness and the recovery of a Costa Rican student who suffered a serious accident. In both cases, relatives prayed to him for intercession.
He was beatified in 2020 by Pope Francis, and with this canonisation, he will become the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint.
Bishop Domenico Sorrentino of Assisi urged young people to follow Acutis’s example, saying:
“Today more than ever we need positive examples, exemplary life stories that can help our young people avoid discouraging images, violent examples, and fleeting fads that leave nothing behind.”
