Teen known as ‘God’s influencer’ to become the first millennial saint
Teen known as ‘God’s influencer’ to become the first millennial saint
Carlo Acutis was just 15 when he died of leukemia in Milan in 2006 and has two miracles attributed to him by the Catholic Church.
Teen to become the first millennial saint of the Catholic Church
01:39
Sept. 6, 2025, 2:00 AM MST
By Keir Simmons
ASSISI, Italy — To his mom, he was “a normal kid,” but on Sunday, Carlo Acutis will become the first millennial saint at a solemn canonization Mass held by Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter’s Square outside the Vatican.
Informally known as “God’s influencer” Carlo was just 15 when he died of acute promyelocytic leukemia in Milan in 2006 and has two miracles attributed to him by the Catholic Church. Being made a saint means the church believes a person lived a holy life and is now in heaven with God.
But in an interview with NBC News, his mother, Antonia Salzano, 58, said that in many ways, her son was just like any other teenager who liked playing video games, hanging out with his friends and playing soccer.
“He was a normal kid, he was a normal person, but he opened the door of his heart to God,” she said earlier this year.
Carlo was born in London, where his father, Andrea Acutis, 61, was working as a merchant banker, but the family moved back to Milan when he was young. Salzano said that from an early age, Carlo “was always generous with his things.”
“If I wanted to buy, for example, two pairs of shoes, he used to say, ‘No, one is sufficient because there are people who are starving who don’t have anything to eat. So we don’t have to waste money. Let’s help other people.’”
Carlo was put on the path toward sainthood after the late Pope Francis approved a miracle attributed to him in 2020, declaring him “blessed” and crediting him with healing Matheus Vianna, a 7-year-old boy from Brazil who recovered from a rare pancreatic disorder after coming into contact with one of Carlo’s T-shirts.
That path was further paved last year when a second miracle was attributed to Carlo, in which he was credited with the complete healing of Costa Rican student Valeria Valverde from major head trauma sustained in a bicycle accident, after her mother prayed at his tomb.
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But from an early age, Salzano said, he taught himself how to program computers and was asking her to buy books trained engineers might use. “He had a special skill, probably something unbelievable. I couldn’t understand how it would be so. But he used what he had in the heart, the love of God, to maximize for spreading the faith,” she added.
Using the family’s small, old computer, Carlo taught himself how to program and built a website cataloging more than 100 Eucharistic miracles around the world that had been recognized by the church over many centuries.
But while programming was his passion, Salzano said, she thought he would likely have become a priest, as he had asked her about pursuing a career in the church. After receiving his First Communion at the age of 7, he attended daily Mass regularly and taught catechism in a local parish.
“He wanted to help people to discover their faith, to discover God, the love of God. And all his life was spent for this. Even if he lived a normal life, like young boys of his age,” she added.
At just 15 years old, in October 2006, he fell ill and within 10 days died of acute promyelocytic leukemia.
While his suffering cau
