The Vatican has declared that Blessed Carlo Acutis is to be canonised on Sept. 7 after recognising two miracles attributed to him, a step that will make the Italian-born teenager the first saint born in the millennial generation.
Ahead of the ceremony in St. Peter’s Square, Acutis’s mother, Antonia Salzano, told The Times that family ties on both sides link the boy who died in 2006 to earlier figures in Catholic history and to an important mathematician. On her side, she said, the family is related to Giulia Salzano and Caterina Volpicelli, both founders of religious congregations who were canonised in 2010 and 2009 respectively. On his father’s side, she said, Acutis was related to Paolo Ruffini, an Italian mathematician who made notable contributions to algebra in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
The Vatican’s recognition of two posthumous miracles was a necessary step toward canonisation. Church authorities have said one reported miracle involved the healing of a Brazilian child who suffered a rare pancreatic malformation; the other concerned the recovery of a Costa Rican student who was seriously injured in an accident. Relatives in both cases had prayed to Acutis, who was beatified by Pope Francis in 2020.
Born in London in 1991 and raised in Milan, Acutis died of leukaemia in 2006 at age 15. He became known within Catholic circles for his deep personal devotion, his frequent attendance at Mass and his early use of digital tools to document and promote the faith. He taught himself basic coding at about nine years old, maintained his parish website and later contributed to a Vatican-based academy site. He also created a widely cited online project, "The Eucharistic Miracles of the World," compiling reports and documentation that aimed to present cases supporting the real presence of the Eucharist.
Antonia Salzano told The Times that, despite not being particularly devout before her son’s religious fervour, she was drawn to Mass by him at age three and a half and later came to see his influence as transformative for the family. Salzano said in the interview that the combination of "saintly roots and mathematical roots" on each side of the family shaped Carlo. She has described Carlo’s discipline and use of time as oriented toward spiritual aims; in previous interviews she recounted that he set limits on recreational screen time so he could devote more attention to prayer and service.
Paolo Ruffini (1765–1822), whom Salzano identified as a paternal relation, is remembered in mathematical history for work related to polynomial equations. Ruffini published arguments showing the impossibility of a general algebraic solution for polynomial equations of degree five or higher, a result later formulated more completely in what is often called the Abel–Ruffini theorem. Ruffini’s career also intersected with turbulent political currents of his time: records show he declined to take a civil oath of allegiance to the Cisalpine Republic after Napoleon’s campaigns in Italy and was temporarily barred from public office and teaching, continuing his studies privately until he could return to academic life.
The process that led to Acutis’s canonisation follows the established five-step path in the Catholic Church: a waiting period after death, investigation of the candidate’s life, recognition of heroic virtue, beatification after one confirmed miracle, and canonisation after a second confirmed miracle. Acutis’s beatification in 2020 followed the first recognised miracle; the Vatican’s declaration this year of a second attributed miracle cleared the way for the final step.
Domenico Sorrentino, bishop of Assisi, urged young people to consider Acutis’s example in a diocesan statement, saying that positive, exemplary life stories can counter harmful trends and short-lived fads. Pilgrimages and commemorations have marked Acutis’s tomb in Assisi in recent months, and organisers said more than 800 people will travel to Rome on a special train from Assisi for the canonisation ceremony, which is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. local time (0800 GMT) on Sunday.
Church officials and supporters have called attention to Acutis’s distinct profile as a digitally fluent youth who used the internet to promote traditional devotional practices. His supporters have described him as a bridge between young Catholics and the church’s sacramental life; critics outside the church have occasionally invoked his story in broader debates over the role of technology and youth culture in religious practice.
The Vatican did not provide additional comment beyond its formal recognition of the miracles and the scheduled canonisation. Relatives and diocesan officials in Assisi and Milan have continued preparations for the ceremony and for the anticipated influx of pilgrims and visitors who wish to attend or to pay respects at sites associated with Acutis’s life and ministry.