Pope Leo XIV on Sunday canonised British-born Carlo Acutis, a teenage Catholic known for documenting purported Eucharistic miracles online, in a ceremony at St. Peter’s Basilica that drew an estimated 80,000 people and large numbers of young worshippers.
The pontiff declared Acutis a saint alongside Italian philanthropist Pier Giorgio Frassati in a ceremony marked by choral music, banners bearing Acutis’s image and a crowd that included many millennials and Gen Z attendees. Pope Leo praised Acutis for integrating "prayer, sport, study and charity" into his daily life and for a style of holiness he described as "next-door neighbour" simplicity.
A native of London, Acutis was born at Portland Hospital and spent his early months in Kensington before his family settled in Italy. His parents, Andrea and Antonia Acutis, were described as secular Catholics; they later supported the lengthy process that led to their son’s elevation. Acutis, who died at age 15, had attracted attention for creating a website that catalogued more than 136 reported Eucharistic miracles and for what supporters called an ability to connect with young people through digital channels.
Vatican officials said two miracles attributed to Acutis were key to his canonisation. Those cited by supporters and reported at the ceremony included the recovery of fashion student Valeria Vargas Valverde from severe head injuries after a family prayer at Acutis’s tomb in Assisi, and a case involving a Brazilian boy, Matheus Vianna. The remains of Acutis have been publicly displayed in Assisi, the Umbrian town where he chose to be buried.
The event contrasted with the somber atmosphere that attendees recalled from recent months at other Vatican gatherings. Organisers and some commentators framed the ceremony as an affirmation of youthful faith, while critics suggested it also served to boost the church’s appeal among younger generations amid ongoing institutional challenges.
Among the crowd were British pilgrims who cited personal and national connections to Acutis. Paddie Denton, an Oxford-based youth worker who survived childhood cancer, said he found the canonisation personally meaningful because of shared experiences of serious illness. William Morris, a religious-studies and philosophy teacher from Wimbledon, said he was drawn to Acutis’s early moral teaching and his use of the internet to reach peers.
During his homily, Pope Leo compared Acutis to St. Francis of Assisi and urged those present, especially youth, not to "squander" their lives but to make them "masterpieces." The pontiff quoted homilies attributed to Acutis, including one that said, "sadness is looking at yourself; happiness is looking at God." Family members were visibly moved; Acutis’s mother was seen wiping away tears and his younger brother, Michele, read a prayer in English.
Canonisation closes a formal, often years-long process in the Catholic Church that requires demonstration of heroic virtue and verified miracles. The process can be costly, and some commentators noted that Acutis’s family had the means to support the effort. Critics who viewed the ceremony as a form of public relations aimed at younger audiences pointed to the spectacle of flags, selfies and celebratory cries comparable to a popular-music concert.
Supporters said Acutis’s combination of ordinary youth activities and religious devotion made his example compelling. Accounts circulating among attendees emphasised his daily attendance at Mass, his comfortable blending of study, sport and prayer, and his use of technology to promote faith. Small religious figurines and souvenirs bearing his image were available in Assisi, where his tomb has become a place of pilgrimage.
The canonisation of Acutis follows a continuing Vatican effort to highlight contemporary models of sanctity. Church officials said the ceremony was intended to recognise lives of holiness in recent history and to present examples thought to be accessible to modern Catholics. The Vatican livestreamed the event and reported a global television and internet audience in the hundreds of millions.
After the formal declaration, applause and exuberant reactions swept through St. Peter’s Square. Pilgrims departed for Assisi and other sites associated with Acutis’s life, while the Vatican said it would continue to provide information about the new saint and the miracles connected to his cause.
The canonisations also prompted discussion inside and outside the church about the role of young people in Catholic life and the ways contemporary media can intersect with religious devotion. Officials and attendees varied in their assessments of what the ceremony will mean long term for outreach to younger generations, but the immediate effect was a large, visible celebration of Acutis’s life and legacy at one of the church’s most prominent public stages.