In a noteworthy stride for modern sainthood, the Catholic Church has elevated at least one millennial to the heavenly hall of fame. On September 7, Pope Leo XIV officially canonized Carlo Acutis, marking him as the first millennial saint alongside the venerable Pier Giorgio Frassati.
As Rev. Anthony Gerber—a high school teacher and priest at St. Genevieve Parish in the Archdiocese of St. Louis—astutely remarked, “The church doesn’t make saints; it merely acknowledges them.” According to him, “Everyone in heaven qualifies as a saint; some just need an official stamp of approval.”
Gerber distinguishes between “capital ‘S’ saints” and their “lowercase ‘s’ counterparts.” The latter refers to the multitude of “hidden saints”—those existing in heaven sans the formality of canonization, commemorated on All Saints’ Day.
Carlo Acutis, privileged to be declared a “capital ‘S’ saint,” signifies a moment where the Church formally, and infallibly, attests to an individual’s presence in heaven. But let’s not kid ourselves; this canonization journey is no brief stroll in a park. It requires mountains of evidence about the candidate’s virtuous life and two verified miracles attributed to their intercession.
The Life of Saint Carlo Acutis
Born on May 3, 1991, and taken far too soon on October 12, 2006, after battling leukemia, Carlo was remarkable, not just for his brief life but for the depth of his faith. His fervent belief in the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist led him to attend Mass daily—a habit that even rekindled his family’s faith, including that of his mother, who recalls only attending Mass at ceremonial milestones until Carlo’s devoted pleas inspired a return.
In a 2023 interview with EWTN News Nightly, his mother, Antonia Salzano, shared, “He’d often note the long lines for concerts or football games but questioned why the same enthusiasm wasn’t directed toward the Blessed Sacrament.”
Like many teens, Carlo loved soccer and video games—Nintendo Game Boy, GameCube, PlayStation, and Xbox were among his favorites. However, his everyday pursuits didn’t mask his commitment to his faith; he advocated for the importance of Mass, confession, and personal dignity, while also shielding the vulnerable from bullying.
At Jesuit High School in Tampa, Florida, Brother Giovanni Diaz Jimenez observed that students deeply resonate with Carlo’s legacy. “He feels relatable,” Jimenez explained. “He wasn’t a figure from centuries past; he was just a kid from ‘yesterday’ who found transformative faith in Jesus Christ.”
Carlo’s ministry flourished in the digital space, where he taught himself programming languages like C and C++. He created a website cataloging Eucharistic miracles worldwide, a two-and-a-half-year project resulting in 187 documented occurrences. This site remains active, and exhibitions derived from it have reached parishes across five continents.
His spiritual director noted Carlo believed the scientific evidence surrounding Eucharistic miracles could rekindle faith in the Church’s teachings. Despite a cancer diagnosis in October 2006, Carlo exhibited extraordinary faith, stating, “I offer all the suffering I will have to endure to the Lord for the pope and for the church, so I may bypass purgatory and head straight to heaven.”
His final resting place is a testament to his enduring impact; after passing, Carlo was buried in Assisi, Italy. In 2019, his remains were transferred to the Church of St. Mary Major where they lie on display, adored by countless pilgrims.
The Path to Sainthood
Jimenez elaborated on the rigorous process of sainthood, highlighting that rigorous investigation involves gathering testimonies and verifying documentation illustrating the candidate’s heroic faith.
Seven years posthumously, the first miracle attributed to Carlo surfaced: a young boy in Brazil was healed of a pancreatic malformation after his family prayed for Carlo’s intercession. Thus, in 2020, Pope Francis bestowed the title of “Blessed” upon Carlo.
The second miracle occurred in 2022 when a Costa Rican student miraculously recovered from severe head injuries following prayers at Carlo’s tomb; her brain hemorrhage astonishingly disappeared, rendering her doctors astounded.
Though Carlo’s canonization was slated for the Vatican’s Jubilee of Teenagers in April, it was postponed due to Pope Francis’s death and the subsequent ascendance of Pope Leo XIV.
Rev. Gerber contends that Carlo’s story challenges the notion that youth are merely the Church’s future. “They are integral to its present,” he emphasized. “Holiness knows no age, and throughout Church history, the youth have been called to sanctity.”
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