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Topics: Pope Leo, World News, UK News
Anish Vij
Carlo Acutis has become Britain's first millennial saint after Pope Leo XIV canonised the 15-year-old on Sunday (7 September).
The London-born computer whiz, who lived in Milan, died in 2006 from acute leukemia.
He became known as 'God’s influencer' after creating a multilingual website documenting so-called 'Eucharistic miracles' recognised by the church.
Over the years, many have travelled to the Sanctuary of the Spoliation church in Assisi, Italy, where they can see the young Carlo through a glass-sided tomb, dressed in jeans, trainers and a sweatshirt.
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His body was exhumed in 2019 during the process towards sainthood, and parts of his body was restored via wax and other materials.
Carlo's first miracle took place in Brazil in 2013 when a young boy with a rare pancreatic disorder was reportedly healed after touching his relic.
The second incident occurred in Florence, Italy, when a young woman suffering from head trauma and internal bleeding recovered unexpectedly after prayers were offered to Carlo.
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The two posthumous miracles were validated by Vatican authorities, which pretty much sealed his journey to sainthood.
Leo canonised Carlo during an open-air Mass in St Peter’s Square that was attended by tens of thousands of people, many millennials and couples with young children.
He also canonised Pier Giorgio Frassati, another popular Italian figure, who died young at the age of 24 in 1925.
The pope said both men had created 'masterpieces' out of their lives by dedicating them to God.
“The greatest risk in life is to waste it outside of God’s plan,” he said, adding that they 'are an invitation to all of us, especially young people, not to squander our lives, but to direct them upwards and make them masterpiece'.
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According to Catholic tradition, first-class relics - strands of hair, pieces of bone, or even blood - are preserved and shared with churches and shrines for veneration.
Ahead of Carlo's canonisation, Chaplain Friar Johnpaul Cafiero of Padua Franciscan High School in Ohio received a relic via an application process which begun a year earlier.
He travelled to Assisi this week to personally collect five strands of the saint’s hair.
It is expected that following Acutis’ canonisation, additional relics will be created and distributed among churches, schools, and Catholic institutions worldwide.
As reported by the Daily Mail, these relics are typically displayed temporarily, offering the faithful a tangible connection to the saint’s life.
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While Acutis’ body lies in the Sanctuary of the Spoliation in Assisi, some relics - including parts of his hair, clothing, and even a hospital sheet - have already been shared with institutions such as the Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust in the UK, the Columbia Newman Center in the US, and parishes across Brazil.
However, Bishop Domenico Sorrentino has filed a complaint after fake relics have been selling online for hundreds of Euros.
"We do not know whether the relics are real or fake," he said.
"But if it were also all invented, if there was deception, we would be not only in the midst of a fraud but also of an insult to religious belief."