A London-born computer prodigy who died of leukemia as a teenager will be named by Pope Francis as the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint after a series of miracles were attributed to him following his death.
Carlo Acutis, who died in 2006 at age 15, was nicknamed “God’s influencer” and “the patron saint of the Internet” because of his devotion to promoting the work of Christ online before he died.
From the age of three, she donated her pocket money to the poor and later, at school, she supported victims of bullying and spent her afternoons cooking and delivering food to the homeless, along with clean blankets.
When he died shortly after being diagnosed with leukemia, he told his parents, “I am happy to die because I have lived my life without wasting a minute doing things that would not have pleased God.”
And almost 20 years after his death, Pope Francis has recognized a miracle attributed to Carlo – after his death – where the mother of a Costa Rican woman involved in a serious bicycle accident prayed before his glass coffin and left a note asking that They will rescue her. cured in 2022.
The same day her daughter began to breathe independently and 10 days later she was discharged from intensive care because the hemorrhage in her brain had completely disappeared.
Pope Francis now signed a decree that paves the way for Acutis to become a saint because the Vatican says Carlo also interceded from heaven in 2013 to cure a Brazilian boy suffering from a rare pancreatic disease.
Carlo’s body is on display in Assisi, where he is wearing his favorite Nike trainers, jeans and a sweatshirt, but he was born in the UK. of an Italian mother and a half-English, half-Italian father who worked in Britain as a commercial banker.
Carlo Acutis, 15, an Italian boy who died in 2006 of leukemia, is in Assisi. A mother prayed here and left a note to heal her seriously ill daughter, who was released from the hospital a few weeks later.
Carlo is also credited with saving a child with a rare pancreatic disease.
Carlo Acutis (pictured) received the nicknames “God’s influencer” and “the patron saint of the Internet” due to his devotion to promoting the work of Christ online before he died almost 20 years ago.
Born in London to an Italian mother and a half-English, half-Italian father who worked in the UK as a merchant banker, he grew up in Milan, where he ran his parish website and later an academy based in the Vatican.
Carlo was a devout Christian (pictured) when he was alive and attended mass daily. Before he died, he created a website where he researched and documented miracles attributed to the Eucharist.
Cardinal Agostino Vallini, center, in the Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi, Italy, during Carlo’s beatification ceremony, one of the steps toward sainthood.
In addition to being committed to his faith, Carlo also helped the homeless and stood up for his bullied classmates at school. In the photo: young Carlo with his dog at Christmas.
The couple then moved to Milan, where their son took over a parish website and later an academy based in the Vatican. He also created an online database of miracles.
Pope Francis, 87, has canonized 912 people since assuming the papacy in 2013, with the most recent date of birth being 1926.
Carlo died in Monza, Italy, after moving to Milan as a child, but was born in London to mother Antonia Salzano and father Andrea Acutis.
His mother said her son was dedicated to supporting his classmates who were struggling with life, defending disabled friends who were being bullied and bringing food to homeless people throughout the city.
Catholics are encouraged to pray to deceased people who they believe are in heaven.
And Pope Francis believes Carlo helped perform a miracle two years ago.
The miracle in question, according to the Vatican Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, involved the healing of Valeria Valverde.
The Vatican has attributed the miracle that allowed Valeria, 21, to recover after a serious bicycle accident in 2022 to the prayers addressed to Carlo.
She was studying in Florence at the time of the accident.
Ms. Valverde underwent emergency surgery to relieve pressure on her brain and was in critical condition.
Six days later, her mother prayed for her daughter’s recovery at Carlo’s grave in Italy.
On the same day, the church says Ms. Valverde regained the use of her limbs, was able to speak, and the signs of her head trauma disappeared.
She was released from intensive care ten days after her mother’s prayers and only needed a short period of physical therapy.
The Vatican also claimed that Carlo interceded from heaven in 2013 to cure a Brazilian boy suffering from a rare pancreatic disease.
Carlo (pictured) would be only the second Briton to be canonized in almost 50 years, after Cardinal John Henry Newman was made a saint last year.
Since his death, Carlo has gained followers around the world and his body was moved to the Church of Saint Mary Major, Assisi, where it is currently on display.
Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino of Assisi told the Times: ‘The Church in Assisi is celebrating. I plan to arrive in Assisi this afternoon to thank the Lord in a Eucharistic celebration. But from now on I join the faithful who are in the sanctuary for a prayer of praise.”
In the UK, Carlo has been remembered by the Archbishop of Birmingham, who in 2020 established the Parish of Blessed Carlo Acutis with churches in Wolverhampton and Wombourne.
Miracles, when reported, are investigated by the church to establish their validity and are understood to be an act that is impossible by nature.
There is no date for canonization, but such events can attract large audiences with thousands of pilgrims in attendance.