"The first millennial saint is Carlo Acutis, an Italian teenager who died in 2006 and was canonized in September 2025 by Pope Leo XIV," the AI Overview says.

"Acutis, known as "God's influencer," used his computer skills and the internet to document religious miracles and spread the Catholic faith, making him a relatable role model for the digital age and a pioneer in online evangelism."

"Carlo Acutis (3 May 1991 – 11 October 2006) was an Italian Catholic teenager. He was known for his devotion to the Eucharist and his use of digital media to promote Catholic devotion. Born in London, England, and raised in Milan, he developed an early interest in computers and video games, teaching himself programming and web design and assisting his parish and school with digital projects. 

"Active in parish life, he served as a catechist and helped inspire several people to convert to Catholicism. He later created a website documenting Eucharistic miracles and Marian apparitions. He was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukaemia and died at the age of fifteen. Since his death, his relics have been displayed in Assisi and his exhibitions on Eucharistic miracles have travelled worldwide."

"In 2020, he was beatified by the Catholic Church after the Church recognition of a proposed 2013 miracle in Brazil attributed to his intercession, while a second miracle in Italy was confirmed in 2024. Acutis was canonised as a saint on 7 September 2025, alongside Pier Giorgio Frassati. Acutis has been referred to as the "patron saint of the Internet", "God's Influencer" and the "first millennial saint". (Wikipedia)

"When Acutis was 14, his parish priest asked him to create a webpage for his parish, Santa Maria Segreta in Milan.[39] After this, a priest at his high school asked him to create a website to promote volunteering.

"For this work, he won a national competition called Sarai volontario (Italian, "You will be a volunteer"). Acutis created a website dedicated to cataloguing each reported Eucharistic miracle in the world and maintaining a list of the approved Marian apparitions of the Catholic Church.

"Acutis launched the website in 2004 and worked on it for two and a half years, involving his entire family in the project. It was unveiled on 4 October 2006, the Feast of St. Francis, only days before his death."  (Wikipedia)

"Due to his enjoyment of video games in life, Acutis has been described as the "first gamer saint". A website was created for his canonisation cause. Others were created for educators, young people, and prayer groups, and for each of the four exhibitions that he inspired.

Part of Acutis' popularity has been linked to how easily young people can identify with him, symbolized in the red polo shirt he is often shown wearing.

In memory of Acutis, Bishops Raffaello Martinelli and Angelo Comastri have helped to organize a traveling photo exhibition of all the Eucharistic miracle sites. It has since traveled to dozens of different countries across five continents. The preface to the print version of the exhibit was written by Cardinal Angelo Comastri and has been translated into 18 languages. It has traveled to more than 10,000 places, including churches, congressional palaces, youth clubs, and welcome centres." (Wikipedia)

"A London-born boy has become the first millennial saint, in a ceremony steeped in an ancient ritual presided over by Pope Leo on Sunday," the BBC reports.

In his short life, Carlo Acutis created websites documenting "miracles" as a means of spreading Catholic teaching, leading some to nickname him God's influencer. His canonisation had been due in late April, but was postponed following the death of Pope Francis.

More than a million people are estimated to have made a pilgrimage to the Italian hilltop town of Assisi where Carlo's body lies, preserved in wax."

" Carlo Acutis, who was just 15 when he died from leukaemia in 2006, used his computing skills to spread awareness of the Catholic faith, setting up a website documenting reports of miracles. Nicknamed “God’s influencer,” he is seen as a pioneer of the church’s evangelizing efforts in the digital world," the CNN reports.

"Frequently depicted wearing jeans, a T-shirt and sneakers, Acutis looks very different from the saints of old and he has gained a global following among young people as a relatable saint. 

"The canonization of the youthful saints comes at a time when the Catholic Church, led by an all-male hierarchy where senior figures are usually over 60, is exploring new ways to engage younger generations. But while the long-term trend in the West suggests young people are increasingly disengaged with mainstream religion, recent surveys and anecdotal evidence point to a rise in interest in Catholicism among Gen Z in the United States and Europe."

"Pope Leo declared the 15-year-old the Catholic Church's first millennial saint during an open-air ceremony in St Peter's Square, where tens of thousands of people attended," the Sky News reports.

The Vatican said 36 cardinals, 270 bishops and 212 priests had signed up to celebrate the Mass. An hour before the Mass, St Peter's Square was already full of well-wishers.

"Carlo, whose Italian family moved to Milan months after his birth in 1991, dedicated his short life to Catholicism, and died of leukaemia in 2006 aged 15."

"The Catholic Church has just canonized a saint who was born in the '90s, wore sneakers, played video games and used computer programming languages to spread the gospel," the CBC reports.

"Carlo Acutis — who died in 2006 from leukemia at the age of 15 — officially became the church's first millennial saint during a Vatican ceremony on Sunday. 

"Italian media has dubbed the British-Italian teen "God's influencer" because of how he used the internet to further his faith, but that's just one of his many monikers."

"Pope Leo XIV declared 15-year-old Carlo Acutis the first millennial saint at an open-air Mass attended by tens of thousands of people in the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square on Sunday," the NBC reports.

"Informally known as “God’s influencer,” Acutis 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.

"The Vatican said 36 cardinals, 270 bishops and hundreds of priests had signed up to celebrate the Mass, where Leo also canonized Pier Giorgio Frassati, another popular Italian who died young."

Carlo Acutis, witness of holiness in simplicity

"Speaking about the witness of young Italian Saint Carlo Acutis, a teenager of our own day, the Pope spoke about how he encountered Jesus in his family, thanks to his parents, Andrea and Antonia, recalling their presence at this celebration along with his two siblings, Francesca and Michele," the Vatican News reports.



"Saint Carlo also found and lived his faith through school, but especially the sacraments celebrated in the parish community, the Pope went on to say, noting how “he grew up naturally integrating prayer, sport, study and charity into his days as a child and young man.”

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