Carlo Acutis, a British-born teenager known for using the internet to document alleged Eucharistic miracles, was declared a saint in a ceremony at St. Peter’s Basilica that drew an estimated 80,000 people to the square and millions more on television and online.
Pope Leo XIV formally canonised Acutis on Sunday, declaring him a model of modern Christian piety and praising the teenager for integrating prayer, sport, study and charity into his life. The rite, attended by cardinals, bishops and a large contingent of young people, combined liturgical elements with a visible youth presence, with flags and banners bearing Acutis’s likeness and many attendees taking selfies and recording the event on their phones.
The Vatican said two miracles attributed to Acutis were recognised during the canonisation process. One involved a Brazilian boy, Matheus Vianna; another involved Valeria Vargas Valverde, a 24-year-old fashion student who recovered from severe head injuries after her mother prayed at Acutis’s tomb in Assisi. Acutis’s remains have been on public display at the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Assisi, where he chose to be buried.
Born in London, Acutis held an Italian passport and spent childhood holidays in Assisi. His parents, Andrea and Antonia Acutis, have described themselves as secular Catholics; they have also been involved in the process that led to his sainthood. Those close to the family say Acutis attended Mass daily as a child, received his first communion at seven and developed a public devotional life in his early teens.
A computer enthusiast, Acutis created a website cataloguing more than 136 reported Eucharistic miracles, combining his interest in technology with a focus on Catholic devotion. The site and his online presence led some commentators to describe him as a figure who connected traditional Catholic teaching with a generation that grew up online.
Pope Leo compared Acutis to St. Francis of Assisi in his homily, noting the teenager’s “next-door-neighbour” style of holiness and quoting homilies attributed to Acutis, including the line, “Sadness is looking at yourself; happiness is looking at God.” The pontiff said the new saints were an invitation, particularly to young people, “not to squander our lives but to direct them upwards and make them masterpieces.” Acutis was canonised alongside Pier Giorgio Frassati, an Italian philanthropist who died in 1925.
The ceremony prompted both devotion and scepticism. Some critics accused the Vatican of staging a spectacle to regain traction with younger Catholics following scandals that have affected the Church’s reputation. Commentators also noted that the cost and resources involved in advancing causes for canonisation can be considerable and that Acutis’s parents’ means have been pointed to by some observers as a factor in the process.
Among those in St. Peter’s, many British visitors highlighted Acutis’s London birth and ties to the United Kingdom. Paddie Denton, a 32-year-old youth worker from Oxford who said he had undergone intensive cancer treatment as a child, told reporters he found Acutis’s story personally resonant. William Morris, 22, a religious-studies teacher who began queuing early to secure a front-row position, said he admired Acutis’s use of the internet to reach peers and his moral exhortations that began when he was 12.
Relatives and devotees provided personal testimony during the service. Acutis’s mother was seen wiping tears as the pope spoke. His younger brother, Michele, read a prayer in English. Supporters have linked the canonisation to a broader effort by parts of the Church to elevate contemporary figures whose lives speak to modern concerns and modes of communication.
In Assisi, where Acutis chose to be buried, shops near his tomb have sold figurines and souvenirs bearing his image. Vatican officials have said the recognition of saints from the modern era can serve both pastoral and spiritual purposes, offering recent examples of faith for a world shaped by rapid social and technological change.
The canonisation will likely intensify interest in Acutis’s life and work, and spark further discussion inside and outside the Church about how religious institutions engage with younger generations and with new forms of media. The Vatican has presented the event as both a celebration of a young person’s faith and an example of contemporary holiness; critics have framed it as a high-profile public-relations moment. The faithful gathered in Rome and those watching remotely appeared, during the ceremony, to experience it primarily as a moment of celebration and affirmation.
Acutis died as a teenager and became widely known after his death for his online catalogue of Eucharistic miracles and for the devotional practices attributed to him. The Vatican’s formal recognition now places him among a small number of saints from the 20th and 21st centuries who are seen as resonant figures for young Catholics today.