Carlo Acutis, 'patron saint of the internet', becomes first millennial saint
Pope Leo XIV has canonised Carlo Acutis, an Italian teenager hailed as the 'patron saint of the internet', the Vatican has announced.
The canonisation ceremony was attended by an estimated 80,000 pilgrims from around the world. Meduza-Live reports that his family say he attended Mass daily from a young age, and donated his pocket money to homeless people.
While a primary school student, the teenager learned computer programming and created websites for Catholic organisations and a web page to document miracles.
He died from leukaemia in 2006, aged just 15, and was buried in the Italian town of Assisi, which has since become a pilgrimage site for his followers.
The Vatican has credited him with two miracles, including the healing of two people, in the run-up to his canonisation.
Acutis is considered the first saint from the so-called millennial generation, which lived through the 1990s and 2000s. He has been dubbed the "first millennial saint" by Reuters and other Western news outlets.
The Vatican also canonised Pier Giorgio Frassati, a 24-year-old Italian activist known for helping the poor who died from polio in the 1920s.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
