The Vatican has moved forward with the canonization of Carlo Acutis, the Italian teenager widely known as "God's influencer," revealing family ties to two canonized figures and to an 18th-century mathematician as the church prepares to make him the first millennial saint.
Acutis, who died of leukemia in 2006 at age 15, is scheduled to be canonized on Sept. 7 after the Holy See recognised two miracles attributed to his intercession. His mother, Antonia Salzano Acutis, told The Times that her son is related on his maternal side to Saints Giulia Salzano and Caterina Volpicelli, and on his paternal side to Paolo Ruffini, the Italian mathematician credited with work on algebra and the impossibility of a general solution for polynomial equations of degree five or higher.
Acutis, born in London in 1991 and raised in Milan, earned attention for his use of digital tools to promote Catholic devotion. He taught himself basic coding at about age nine, maintained his parish website and later worked on a Vatican-based academy site, and created an online catalogue titled "The Eucharistic Miracles of the World," which documented reported miracles associated with the Eucharist.
His mother said his faith had a profound effect on their family. "We have saintly roots and mathematical roots, and the result was Carlo," she told The Times. She described how Carlo's devotion influenced her own religious practice, saying she had attended Mass only a few times before her son began bringing her to church at about three and a half.
The Vatican said it recognised two miracles attributed to Acutis since his death, a required step toward sainthood. One case involved the healing of a Brazilian child with a rare pancreatic malformation; the other concerned the recovery of a Costa Rican student who had been seriously injured in an accident. Relatives had prayed to Acutis in both instances. He was beatified by Pope Francis in 2020.
Diocese officials in Assisi said more than 800 people would travel on a special train from the town to Rome for the canonization ceremony, which is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. (0800 GMT) on Sunday in St. Peter's Square. Domenico Sorrentino, bishop of Assisi, urged young people to follow Acutis's example, saying in a diocesan statement that "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."
Acutis's maternal relations include Giulia Salzano, founder of the Catechetical Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, who was canonised in 2010, and Caterina Volpicelli, founder of the Maids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, canonised in 2009. On his father's side, Antonia Salzano said the family traces its roots to Paolo Ruffini (1765–1822), noted for his mathematical work and for resisting a civil oath of allegiance to the Cisalpine Republic during the Napoleonic era.
Church officials outlined the canonical process that led to Acutis's beatification and now his canonization. Typically, five years must pass after a person's death before a cause can be opened; a diocesan inquiry investigates whether the person lived a life of heroic virtue and the Congregation for the Causes of Saints reviews the findings. Beatification requires recognition of one miracle attributed to the candidate's intercession; canonization generally requires a second.
Those who followed Acutis's life recall a teenager who balanced a love of technology with devotion. He limited his time playing video games to an hour a day so he could devote more time to religious activities, and he was known for saying that "every minute wasted is one less minute to glorify God," according to his mother. His remains lie in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Assisi, where pilgrims have visited his tomb in large numbers in recent months.
Acutis's forthcoming canonization marks a notable moment for the Catholic Church: a millennial born in 1991 being elevated to sainthood and recognised in part for his use of the internet to promote faith. The Vatican's decision to formally declare him a saint acknowledges both the miracles attributed to his intercession and the role his example may play in engaging younger generations of Catholics.