Carlo Acutis, the London-born Italian teenager who died in 2006 at the age of 15, will be canonised on Sunday, becoming the Catholic Church's first millennial saint. Known as 'God's influencer', he built websites to spread Catholic teachings and is celebrated for his devout faith and use of technology for good.
Acutis's relics, including a splinter from his bed and a fragment of his jumper, are displayed in a chapel in northern Rome. His body, covered in a wax mould and dressed in a tracksuit, is on view in Assisi, where over a million pilgrims have visited. His heart is kept in a gold casket in San Rufino cathedral.
Born in London, where his father worked in insurance, Acutis moved to Milan as a baby. His mother, Antonia Salzano, described him as an average child who loved sports and video games but showed deep devotion to Catholicism from a young age. He created websites for Catholic organisations and limited his PlayStation use to an hour a week.
Acutis's canonisation, approved by Pope Francis, was accelerated due to two miracles attributed to him: the healing of a boy in Brazil with a pancreatic disease and a student in Florence with brain bleeding. His funeral was attended by many he had helped, including immigrants and bullied children.
The church hopes Acutis's story will attract young people to the faith, offering a modern example of holiness. His mother continues to travel globally, sharing his life and bringing strands of his hair as gifts to Catholic communities.
