Teen computer prodigy who died at 15 to be canonized as first millennial saint

A teenager from the UK who succumbed to leukaemia in 2006 is set to become the first saint of the millennial generation in the history of Catholicism.

This advancement follows Pope Francis’s declaration that a miracle attributed to the Blessed Carlo Acutis has been acknowledged, paving the way for the young man’s upcoming canonisation.

As stated in an announcement, Francis made the decision after consulting with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, the head of the Vatican’s department responsible for the creation of saints.

Who was Carlo Acutis?

Carlo Acutis, a computer prodigy who passed away in 2006, played a significant role in sharing Roman Catholic doctrine on the internet, as reported by The Guardian. Born in London in 1991, Acutis spent his early years in Milan with his Italian parents, Andrea Acutis and Antonia Salzano. From a young age, the teenager demonstrated a deep religious devotion.

When he was just three years old, Salzano told the local newspaper Corriere della Sera that his son was fascinated by the churches they passed in Milan and would donate his allowance to the city’s impoverished.

Salzano also mentioned that Acutis would help his schoolmates dealing with their parents’ divorce, stand up for classmates with disabilities against bullies, and provide food and sleeping bags to Milan’s homeless.

Acutis acquired coding skills in elementary school and used his expertise to create websites for Catholic organisations and a worldwide miracles database. Following his death in Italy, his belongings and remains were exhibited in a tomb.

The Path to Sainthood

Acutis, at the age of 15, embarked on the journey to sainthood after a seven-year-old Brazilian child allegedly recovered from a rare pancreatic disease by touching one of his t-shirts, and a priest prayed for him on behalf of the child, as reported by NDTV.

The Pope assessed and approved the recovery, which was deemed miraculous.

According to Reuters, the last individual canonised by Pope Francis was born in 1926. On Thursday, Pope Francis accepted Acutis’s assertion of a second miracle, qualifying the young man for canonisation.

In another instance, a Florence University student’s family was informed that she was in a critical state following a bicycle accident that resulted in a brain bleed.

The young woman suffered “severe head trauma” from the crash, as reported by Vatican News and cited by Fox News Digital. Medical staff had to remove a portion of her skull to alleviate brain pressure. They were doubtful of her survival.

However, scans conducted ten days after her mother prayed for her recovery at Acutis’s tomb revealed that her daughter’s brain injury had disappeared.

Acutis is the sole canonised individual born in the 1990s. According to The Guardian, Pope Francis has canonised 912 individuals, the most recent one being in 1926.

According to Reuters, Acutis was designated as a patron of the previous year’s World Youth Day in Lisbon due to his “significant role in evangelisation through the internet,” as stated by the event’s organizers.

In Catholicism, an individual is eligible for sainthood if the Pope has validated two miracles attributed to them.

The Medical Council of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes is the specific entity within the Catholic church responsible for verifying the authenticity of miracles.

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