MollyMcChesney

On Sept. 7, a monumental event in the Catholic Church occurred. This day marked the canonization of the new saint: Carlo Acutis. Carlo’s canonization was monumental for many reasons.

Acutis died in 2006 at the age of 15 of acute leukemia. Acutis was canonized in 2025 just 19 years after his death. This is unconventional for most saints. Usually it takes decades or even centuries for a person to become recognized. Acutis was even canonized on the same day as Pier Giorgio Frassati who did have to wait the usual time for a person to be canonized.  

  He was devoted to spreading the word of God and created a website to document Eucharistic miracles around the world. His use of the internet helped spread the word of God and Catholic teaching to the younger generation. He is even referred to as “the patron saint of the internet” and “the saint that wore Nike and blue jeans.\ 

Acutis is accredited to two miracles that helped him gain his sainthood. He is tied to the healing of a boy named Matheus Vianna in Brazil who suffered from a rare pancreatic disorder in 2013. The second miracle he is tied to is the healing of a Costa Rician girl named Valeria Valverde in 2022. Valverde suffered a head injury and when her mother visited Acutis’s tomb, she made a full recovery. 

What makes this such a historical canonization in the Church is the fact that St. Carlo Acutis is the first millennial saint. Additionally, something special is that his family got to witness his canonization. 

St. Carlo Acutis is someone who people can look at and relate to. Like many young people, Acutis enjoyed using technology, harnessing it to the word of God. 

 When looking at him through photos or videos, he looks like a person you may see walking down the street today. 

Senior Layla Weedin even chose Carlo Acutis as her confirmation saint almost four years ago. This was before he was canonized but at this time he was blessed to become a saint. She chose him because “I wanted to choose a saint I felt close with and felt more human to me.” Weedin felt that he was just a regular teenage boy who liked the same things as she did and “he feels closer to us on earth because he’s such a new saint.”  

 This is a step in a different direction for the church and their reach to the youth.

Graphic by MollyMcChesney. Image Source: carloacutis.com