Tens of thousands of pilgrims are expected on the Vatican Sunday for the canonization of an Italian teenager called “God’s influencer” for their efforts to spread the Catholic faith online.
Carlo Acutis, who died of leukemia in 2006 at age 15, will be becoming the first Millennium by Pope Leo XIV in a solemn ceremony in the Plaza de San Pedro.
The adolescent’s body, dressed in jeans and a pair of coaches from Nike, is in a tomb of glass walls in Assisi, visited by hundreds of thousands of people a year.
The canonization of the so-called “cyber-apostle” was initially established for April, but was postponed when Pope Francis died. It will be the first ceremony of Pope Leo, born in the United States.
Among the expected crowds in the Vatican for Mass, which begins at 10:00 am (0800 GMT), there are more than 800 people traveling to Rome on a special train from Assisi.
The Mass will also be monitored by faithful on giant screens in Assisi, a medieval city and a pilgrimage site in the central region of Umbria.
“I know that many will come, many will continue on television, many have already arrived on April 27. And I’m sure Carlo thanks them,” said his mother, Antonia Salzano.
In a video posted by the Diocese of Assisi on Saturday, he said that his son was proof that “we are all called to be saints … they are all special.”
A great tapestry with a photograph of the Saint of the Saints hung on the facade of the Basilica of San Pedro before the ceremony.
‘Exemplary life’
Acutis, born in London in 1991 from Italian parents, had a burning faith, although their parents were not particularly devout.
He grew up in the city of northern Milan, where he attended Mass daily and had kindness of kindness with intimidated children and homeless people, bringing food and sleeping bags.
A fan of computer games, Acutis taught himself a basic coding and used it to document miracles and other elements of the online Catholic faith.
Domenico Sorrentino, Bishop of Assisi, asked young people on Friday to follow the example of Acutis.
“Today, more than ever, we need positive examples, exemplary life stories that can help our young people avoid discouraging images, violent examples and fleeting fashions that leave nothing behind,” he said in a statement.
The Vatican has recognized Acutis as performing two miracles since his death, a necessary step on the road to holiness.
The first was the healing of a Brazilian child who suffered from a rare pancreatic malformation, in the second recovery of a severely injured Costa Rican student in an accident.
In both cases, relatives had prayed for the help of the adolescent, who was beatified in 2020 by Pope Francis.
