Sainthood hangs for ‘God’s influencer’

VATICAN CITY, Holy See (AFP) — Sunday’s scheduled canonization of the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint has been postponed to a later date after the death of Pope Francis, the Vatican said on Monday.

Carlo Acutis, who died of leukemia in 2006 aged 15, was meant to have his sainthood rubber-stamped in a Mass at the Holy See on 27 April.

“Following the death of the Sovereign Pontiff Francis, we inform you that the Eucharistic Celebration and Rite of Canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis... has been postponed,” the Vatican said in a brief statement.

Dubbed “God’s Influencer” or the “Cyber Apostle,” Acutis spent much of his short life spreading the Catholic faith online.

Carlo was born in London to Italian parents on 3 May 1991, but mostly grew up in Milan. He spent holidays in the family’s second home in Assisi, and eventually died in Monza, northern Italy.

His family was wealthy and not religiously observant, but Carlo was imbued with ardent faith from a young age, attending mass every day.

The Vatican has recognized two miracles associated with Carlo, which under Catholic rules are a prerequisite for his canonization.

It claimed in 2020 that he had posthumously interceded in 2013 to cure a Brazilian boy suffering from a rare pancreatic disease.

Then last year, the Vatican attributed to him the healing of a Costa Rican student seriously injured in an accident.

Digital ‘miracles’

The medieval hilltop town of Assisi is famous as the 12th-century birthplace of Saint Francis, who founded the religious order of the Franciscans.

But among the stone streets and bell towers, the image of a smiling boy in a red polo shirt has joined the portraits of Francis in his sackcloth robe.

Pilgrims flock to pray before Carlo’s body in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, the Sanctuary of the Spoliation, where it has been on public display in a glass tomb since 2022.

His remains have been embalmed and his youthful face and jet-black hair are astonishingly lifelike. He is clothed as he once dressed, in jeans and trainers.

His mother, Antonia Salzano Acutis, remembered a well-behaved and generous boy who “gave away all his toys, always with a smile.”

At nine years old, he was helping homeless people on the streets, bringing them food, she recalled.

“He said, ‘I have everything, these people have nothing, is that fair?’”

The teenager had a gift for computers and spread the teachings of Jesus Christ online, notably creating a digital exhibition on miracles.