Pope to make late Italian teenager Carlo Acutis the first millennial saint

Pope Francis said he will canonise Carlo Acutis next April, setting the eagerly awaited date for the late teenager to become the Catholic Church’s first millennial and digital-era saint.

Francis made the announcement at the end of his weekly general audience on Wednesday, saying he would proclaim the church’s youngest contemporary saint during the Jubilee of Adolescents at the Vatican on April 25-27.

Officials later confirmed the canonisation Mass would occur April 27 at the Vatican.

Acutis, who was born to Italian parents in London, was a web designer who died of leukemia in Italy in 2006 at the age of 15. Francis beatified him in 2020 in Assisi, where his tomb draws a steady stream of pilgrims.

Touted as the “patron saint of the internet”, Acutis used his natural tech talent to create a website to catalog miracles and took care of websites for some local Catholic organisations.

Francis announced in May that he had approved a second miracle attributed to Acutis’ intercession, paving the way for Wednesday’s announcement.