Pope announces web designer as first millennial saint

The Catholic Church will soon get its first millennial saint, an Italian teenager who designed websites for the church, Pope Francis announced Wednesday.
Carlo Acutis, a 15-year-old who died of leukemia in 2006, will be canonized in April next year, the pope said at his weekly audience in the Vatican. Acutis was beatified in 2020 after a miracle was formally attributed to him, one of the last steps in the lengthy process to sainthood, with a second miracle recognized in May.
The teen, who has been nicknamed “God’s influencer,” was a devout Catholic and used his computer coding skills to create a website chronicling Catholic miracles and apparitions. His wax-encased body, wearing jeans and Nike sneakers, is displayed in a tomb in the Italian town of Assisi and draws thousands of pilgrims each year.
“I want to say that next year on the day of children and adolescents, I will canonize Carlo Acutis,” the pope said, referring to the weekend of April 25-27, when a church event for young people will take place.
Acutis’ unusually speedy path to sainthood, which often takes many decades, comes amid a sharp decline in membership of the Catholic Church in the U.S. and elsewhere, especially among young people.
Elena Giordano contributed to this report.