Latest news with #canonization
Daily Mail
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Startling connection between soon-to-be canonized 'God's Influencer' and Pope Leo
A priest has discovered an eye-opening link between a British-born teenager set to be canonized - and the newly-elected Pope. Carlo Acutis, known as 'God's influencer', will become the Catholic Church's first millennial to be appointed as a saint at a date yet to be confirmed. The London-born 'techie' teen - born in 1991 to an Italian mother and half Italian, half English father - passed away died in 2006 from leukaemia. Since then he has received worldwide acclaim for his religious devotion and the attribution of miracles since his tragic passing. But now Father David Michael Moses of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston has noticed a startling connection the late teenager and Pope Leo XIV, ChurchPop reported. Speaking on his podcast, Father Moses said he was struck by the fact Acutis attended the Leo XIII Institute in Milan, Italy - which was named after the very pope that inspired the new papal leader to choose his name. Father Moses explained: 'Well—and this was the big discovery I made when I looked through some of these notes—guess the name of the high school that Blessed Carlo Acutis went to? It's called the Leo XIII Institute. 'I mean, guys, come on. How cool is that? 'He died really young—he was 15—so he never went to college. He didn't go to that many schools. 'What are the chances that the school that he's attending when he dies was named after Pope Leo XIII, the predecessor of our new Pope Leo XIV, the pope that Leo XIV says inspired him to choose the name? What are the chances? How cool is that? 'We are on a Leo tear right now in the Church.' Researching further, Father Moses then realised the significance of a spiritual request the teenager made before his passing. He explained: 'If that wasn't enough, listen to this quote from Blessed Carlo Acutis. 'He says this: "I offer all the suffering I will have to suffer for the Lord, for the Pope, and for the Church." 'Blessed Carlo, the first millennial saint about to be canonized, offered his suffering in large part for the pope. 'And now we have a pope who chooses the name of Blessed Carlo's high school patron. So cool. Love that.' Acutis spent most of his life in Milan and his family visited Assisi every year around Easter, as it was his favourite place. It is also where he asked to be buried after dying from leukemia in 2006 and now lies in rest. He spent much of his spare time designing an online exhibition about Eucharistic miracles around the world. Due to his proficiency with computers, he has been referred to as a 'saint of the ordinary,' and also a possible patron saint for IT workers. Acutis was nominated for sainthood after a series of miracles were attributed to him. In 2020, the late Pope Francis recognised the healing of a young boy in Brazil from a rare form of pancreatic cancer attributed to Acutis. Shortly after, he was beatified which is the first step towards sainthood. Then in 2024, Pope Francis recognised a second miracle - the healing of a student in Florence who had a bleed on the brain. The Pope called him a role model for young people who are frequently tempted by 'self-absorption, isolation and empty pleasure.' The Pope said: 'Carlo was well-aware that the whole apparatus of communications, advertising and social networking can be used to lull us, to make us addicted to consumerism and buying the latest thing on the market, obsessed with our free time, caught up in negativity,' Crux reported. What are the five steps to becoming a saint? Five-year wait: Five years usually needs to have passed after someone's death for the process to begin. This allows for a period of reflection on the case. Servant of God: The bishop of the diocese where the person has died investigates whether their life was holy enough to be deemed a 'servant of God'. Life of heroic virtue: The Congregation for the Causes of Saints looks at the case. If they approve it is passed onto the Pope, who declares the subject a person of 'heroic virtue'. Beatification: A miracle needs to happen to a person who has prayed to the person in question. Canonisation: A second miracle is attributed to the person who has been beatified. His mother Antonia Salzano previously said that she now refers to her late son as her 'saviour' as he taught her more and more about his faith and credits him with her conversion into Christianity. He grew up in Milan where he took care of his parish website and later that of a Vatican-based academy. From the age of three, he would donate his pocket money to the poor and later at school supported victims of bullying, while he spent his evenings cooking and delivering meals to the homeless. He told his parents in his final words: 'I die happy because I didn't spend any minutes of my life in things God doesn't love.' Even after his death, the youngster, informally known as 'God's influencer', was performing miracles, supposedly healing a critically ill child and a brain bleed victim in 2012 and 2022. He was raised by first an Irish nanny then a Polish one. They claim he was inspired in part by St Francis of Assisi, who was born in the same town Acutis was laid to rest. Remarking over her late son, Ms Salzano told the Times: 'Sometimes these beautiful [saints] are all very old and used to live in a very different world so young people don't feel so close to them. 'Carlo was young and handsome and always smiling and was a computer genius and would play on his PlayStation and Game Boy. Acutis (pictured) grew up in Milan where he took care of his parish website and later of a Vatican-based academy 'To have a saint that played with the same things as you do is something that really touches these young people.' Ms Salzano said her son had a 'special relationship' with God from an early age, even though her family was not religious. She told Shalom Tidings that she had only ever been to mass three times before Acutis began dragging her to church at the age of three and a half. Around the same time he began asking questions about his faith and engaging in practices she had never heard of including honouring existing saints, leaving flowers at shrines, and spending hours in church. The youngster even limited himself to one hour of video games each day so that he could devote more time to his religion. 'Every minute wasted is one less minute to glorify God,' his mother said. Since his death, he has garnered a global following, and his body was moved to the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, Assisi where it is currently on display. In the UK, he has been remembered by the Archbishop of Birmingham, who in 2020 established the Parish of Blessed Carlo Acutis with churches in Wolverhampton and Wombourne.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
God's influencer: Carlos Acutis set to be the first millennial saint
The first figurines of Carlo Acutis, an Italian teenager who died of leukaemia in 2006, are already on sale in the souvenir shops of Assisi, each priced at €45 ($50). He was an ordinary boy in jeans, trainers and a red polo shirt but now Acutis is depicted with a golden halo over his head. This puts the traders in the Italian hilltop town, home of St Francis of Assisi, a little ahead of the Catholic Church. The Vatican postponed the canonization of Acutis, who died at 15, following the death of pope Francis, though his elevation to sainthood remains assured. The son of a wealthy Italian family, Acutis is set to become the first saint of the millennial generation - commonly referred to as those born between 1981 and 1999. He would have been 33 today. The Vatican places significant importance on Acutis' canonization, with the late pope having planned to personally oversee the ceremony, particularly given his own choice of name as a tribute to Francis of Assisi, a medieval monk who lived in poverty nearly 800 years ago. Acutis' life story is framed by the Vatican as one that is meant to resonate with younger generations. He is described as a "little computer genius," an "influencer of God," and a "cyber apostle" - terms meant to inspire today's tech-savvy youth. Born in London in 1991, Acutis' family moved to Milan shortly after his birth, and they still maintain a holiday home near Assisi. Miracle database and rosary programme Acutis reportedly found his way to faith at an early age, particularly through the influence of his nanny. He received his first communion at the age of seven. He later attended a Jesuit school, where he wrote computer programmes for the church, designed websites and created a database of supposed Eucharistic miracles. He installed a rosary programme on his laptop and was in charge of his parish's website. At the time, Acutis told his mother that he was thinking about becoming a priest. He allegedly admonished friends not to visit porn sites and is said to have claimed: "The only woman in my life is the Virgin Mary." In early October 2016, Acutis was diagnosed with acute leukaemia which led to his untimely death just a few days later, on October 12. Soon afterwards, his journey to becoming a saint began, supported by the church and his parents. His body was exhumed and reburied several times, with his final resting place now in the pilgrimage church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Assisi, where millions of visitors, including school groups, have since paid tribute. Boy's wax-encased remains on display Acutis' remains now rest in a sarcophagus with a glass pane, allowing visitors to view inside. The young boy is dressed in jeans and trainers, with a rosary placed in his hands. His face and hands have been modelled with silicone wax, a common technique used for presenting the bodies of saints, allowing pilgrims to see them as they appeared before death. Opposite the display is a stone bench for those wishing to linger longer, though most visitors pass by swiftly. Photography is strictly prohibited. Beatifications and canonizations follow a complex, multi-step process in which every aspect of a candidate's life is carefully examined. In the past, this process often only began at least 50 years after death, but today it can sometimes unfold much more rapidly. Typically, a miracle must be attributed to the candidate. In Acutis' case, Vatican authorities recognized the healing of a child in Brazil and a young woman in Costa Rica, both of which were deemed miraculous. The pope then gave his approval. In 2020, Acutis was beatified by pope Francis. The tradition of sainthood spans centuries. More recently, figures like Mother Teresa and pope John Paul II have been canonized, bringing the total number of Catholic saints to over 10,000, with nearly 1,000 added by pope Francis alone. A close friend sows doubt However, some feel the canonization process has become too expedited. Questions about Acutis' true piety have also emerged. One of his closest friends, Federico Oldani, told The Economist that he did not even know that Acutis was religious and never spoke to him about Jesus. Oldani also never heard him say the phrase "The Eucharist is my motorway to heaven," which is now universally attributed to his dead friend. Which doesn't change the fact that many in Assisi are already earning good money with the soon-to-be saint. From jute bags to T-shirts, medallions, pendants, rosaries and fridge magnets, Acutis' face looms large in the souvenir shops. Figurines of him are also on sale in the church where Acutis now lies. The rector of the parish, Franciscan priest Marco Gaballo, says: "People want something they can remember. Then that's fine with me." However, money is now also being made online with the first saint of the internet age, with supposed relics on offer on websites. A lock of hair allegedly from Acutis was recently sold for €2,110. That was too much for the church, leading Bishop of Assisi, Domenico Sorrentino, to file a criminal complaint. Now the public prosecutor is investigating.
