Pope Francis announced this week that a late web designer will be named as the first millennial saint.
The Saint Announcement
Pope Francis announced that Carlo Acutis, a teenager celebrated for his embrace of faith and digital technology, will be canonized in April. This milestone will make Acutis the Catholic Church's first millennial saint and a symbol of spirituality in the digital age.
During his weekly general audience on Wednesday, Francis revealed plans to canonize Acutis during the Vatican's Jubilee of Adolescents from April 25 to 27. Church officials later confirmed that the canonization Mass for Acutis is scheduled to take place at the Vatican on April 27.
Who Is Carlo Acutis?
Carlo Acutis, born to Italian parents in London, was a talented web designer who died from leukemia in Italy at just 15 years old in 2006. Pope Francis beatified him in 2020 in Assisi, where his tomb has since become a major pilgrimage site.
Known as the "patron saint of the internet," Acutis used his technical expertise to build a website cataloging miracles and managed web pages for local Catholic organizations.
The Catholic News Agency reported that Acutis will become the first millennial to be named a saint. At the age of 7 following his Holy Communion, Acutis told his mother, "to always be united to Jesus: This is my life plan," the Catholic News Agency reported.
In May, Pope Francis approved a second miracle credited to the intercession of Acutis, clearing the final hurdle for the Vatican's announcement on Wednesday.
Acutis is also remembered as saying that "people who place themselves before the sun get a tan; people who place themselves before the Eucharist become saints," according to the Catholic News Agency.
New Saints
Last month, Pope Francis canonized 14 new saints, including a group of martyrs from Syria, in a move that could symbolize a call for peace in the war-torn region.
The canonization ceremony is one of the most significant events in the liturgical calendar, as the newly recognized saints are respected by Catholics around the world for their extraordinary virtues and what is seen as their closeness to God.
The figures selected by the pope were from various parts of the world, reflecting the diverse and global nature of the Catholic Church.
Among them were St. Manuel Ruiz López and his seven Franciscan companions, who were all martyred in Damascus in 1860 for "refusing to renounce their Christian faith," as well as brothers Saints Francis, Mooti and Raphael Massabki, "lay Maronite Catholics and siblings also martyred in Syria along with the Franciscans," as reported by Catholic News Agency.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
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