## Vatican City – Pope Leo XIV today canonized Carlo Acutis, a 15-year-old Italian teenager celebrated for his exceptional computer skills and devout Catholic faith, declaring him a saint before a crowd filled with millennials and families in St. Peter’s Square.The historic ceremony, held on September 7, 2025, also recognized Pier Giorgio Frassati, who died in 1925 at age 24, for his dedication to serving the poor and spreading his faith. However, it was the canonization of Acutis – dubbed “God’s influencer” – that resonated especially strongly with the younger generation.
“It’s like I can maybe not be as great as Carlo might potentially be, but I can be looking after him and be like, ‘What would carlo do?'” said Leo Kowalsky, an 8th grader at a Chicago school attached to the Blessed Carlo Acutis Parish. Kowalsky also expressed excitement that his namesake, Pope Leo, was leading the canonization.
Acutis, a millennial born roughly between 1981 and 1996, gained popularity through a Vatican campaign to present a relatable “saint next door” who lived an ordinary life but achieved remarkable things. he used his technological talents to create a website cataloging miracles attributed to catholic saints.
The Vatican reported significant support from the Church hierarchy, with 36 cardinals, 270 bishops, and hundreds of priests participating in the Mass.
Pilgrims, manny young Italians with families, filled St. Peter’s Square hours before the ceremony.”I learned from different people what his professors, his teachers said about his joy and the light he carried around him,” said Leopoldo Antimi, a 27-year-old Roman. “So for me personally as an Italian, even on social networks that are used so much, it is vital to have him as an influencer.”
religious studies professor Matthew Schmalz of Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts, explained that Acutis’ canonization represents an extension of Catholic popular piety into the digital age.
“he is a new saint of simplicity for the ever complex digital landscape of contemporary Catholicism,” Schmalz stated.
Frassati, the other newly canonized saint, was known for his charitable work and devotion to spreading his faith despite being born into a prominent family.
