Tens of thousands of pilgrims are expected to gather at the Vatican on Sunday as Italian teenager Carlo Acutis, often called “God’s Influencer” for his online efforts to share the Catholic faith, will be declared a saint.

Acutis, who died of leukaemia in 2006 at the age of 15, will officially become the first millennial saint in a canonisation ceremony led by Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter’s Square. The event marks the new pontiff’s first canonisation, following the death of Pope Francis which delayed the ceremony initially scheduled for April.

The teenager’s body, dressed in jeans and Nike trainers, rests in a glass tomb in Assisi, where hundreds of thousands visit each year. Among the faithful attending the Vatican mass, beginning at 10:00 am (0800 GMT), are more than 800 people making the journey from Assisi on a special pilgrimage train.

Large crowds will also follow the celebration on big screens in Assisi, a historic pilgrimage city in Umbria. Speaking in a video released by the Assisi diocese, Acutis’s mother, Antonia Salzano, said: “I know that many will come, many will follow on television — many came already for April 27. And I’m sure that Carlo thanks them.” She added that her son’s story shows that “we are all called to be saints… everyone is special.”

In preparation for the ceremony, a giant tapestry featuring Acutis’s image has been placed on the facade of St. Peter’s Basilica.

A Modern Example of Faith

Born in London in 1991 to Italian parents, Acutis grew up in Milan. Despite his family not being strongly religious, he developed a deep devotion, attending daily mass and becoming known for acts of kindness, especially toward bullied children and the homeless, to whom he offered food and sleeping bags.

An avid gamer and self-taught in basic coding, Acutis used his skills to create an online catalogue documenting Catholic miracles.

Domenico Sorrentino, the bishop of Assisi, urged young people to look to Acutis’s example, saying: “Today more than ever we need positive examples, exemplary life stories that can help our young people avoid following discouraging images, violent examples, and fleeting fads that leave nothing behind.”

The Vatican has recognised two miracles attributed to Acutis’s intercession: the healing of a Brazilian child with a rare pancreatic disorder and the recovery of a Costa Rican student after a severe accident. Both families had prayed to him for divine help.

Acutis was beatified in 2020 by Pope Francis, a crucial step that has now led to his sainthood.

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