Tens of thousands of pilgrims are expected at the Vatican on Sunday for the canonization of an Italian adolescent nicknamed “influencer of God” for his efforts to disseminate Catholic faith online.
Carlo Acutis, who died of leukemia in 2006 at the age of 15, will be the first holy millennium by Pope Leo XIV during a solemn ceremony on Saint-Pierre square.
The adolescent’s body, dressed in jeans and a pair of Nike coaches, is in a grape -sided glass grave, visited by hundreds of thousands of people per year.
The canonization of the so-called “cyber-apost” was initially fixed for April but postponed to the death of Pope Francis. It will be the first ceremony of this type of Pope Leo, born in the United States.
Among the crowds expected at the Vatican for Mass, which starts at 10:00 am (0800 GMT), are more than 800 people going to Rome on a special seat train.
Mass will also be monitored by Faithful on giant seat screens, a medieval city and a pilgrimage site in the central region of Ombrie.
“I know that many will come, many will follow on television – many have already come on April 27. And I am sure that Carlo thanks them,” said his mother, Antonia Salzano.
In a video published on Saturday by the sitting diocese, she said that her son was proof that “we are all called to be saints … Everyone is special”.
A large tapestry featured a photograph of the Saint-à-Etain hung on the facade of the Saint-Pierre basilica before the ceremony.
‘Exemplary life’
Acutis, born in London in 1991 of Italian parents, had ardent faith, although his parents were not particularly devoted.
He grew up in the city in the north of Milan, where he attended mass daily and had the reputation of kindness for intimidated children and the homeless, bringing this last food and sleeping bags.
Fan of computer games, Acutis learned the basic coding himself and used it to document miracles and other elements of the online Catholic faith.
Domenico Sorrentino, bishop of Assisi, called on young people on Friday to follow the example of Acutis.
“Today more than ever, we need positive examples, exemplary life stories that can help our young people avoid following discouraging images, violent examples and fleeting modes that leave nothing behind,” he said in a statement.
The Vatican has recognized acutis as two miracles since his death – a necessary step on the path of holiness.
The first was the healing of a Brazilian child suffering from a rare pancreatic malformation, the second of the recovery of a Costaurian student seriously injured in an accident.
In both cases, relatives had prayed for the help of the adolescent, who was beatified in 2020 by Pope Francis.
