An Italian teenager who liked playing video games and making funny films of his pets became the Catholic Church’s first “millennial” saint on Sunday.

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.

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.

His canonization took place alongside that of another young man, Pier Giorgio Frassatti, who died in 1925 at age 24. The saint-making ceremony was the first presided over by Pope Leo XIV, the first American pontiff, with thousands of young people in St. Peter’s Square.

Large crowds gathered Sunday at the Vatican city, waving signs and flags bearing Acutis’ photograph. Jubilant observers applauded following the teenager’s canonization by Pope Leo.

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. A crisis involving clerical sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable adults has had a catastrophic impact on the church’s credibility.

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.

Acutis’ mother, Antonia Salzano, says she believes her son’s life and faith resonate with a generation of young people, particularly those navigating the complexities of a digital world.

“Carlo is a message of hope, because Carlo says, ‘Yes, you have to use (the internet) for good.’ This why Pope Francis called Carlo God’s influencer ,” she told CNN in Assisi earlier this year.

Her son, she said, knew the “dark side” of the internet and was conscious of the addictiveness of video games, choosing only to play on his PlayStation for an hour a week.

“Carlo used to say that all are born original, many die as photocopies,” she said during an interview at the Centro Amici di Carlo Acutis, a center dedicated to her son, set in the peaceful, green surroundings of Assisi, a hilltop town in Umbria.

“Each one of us is special, there is a call, a mission. If we don’t realize this mission that God, since eternity, has fought for each one of us… we risk finishing like a photocopy of somebody else.” Her son’s life, she says, shows that holiness is possible for everyone, and that it’s “not only for some people.”

Acutis was born in London, UK, into a wealthy family. His father, Andrea Acutis, worked at a bank in the British capital, but the young boy lived most of his life in Milan as his father went onto become the chairman of an Italian insurance firm. His mother says he had a “normal” life and that he enjoyed sports and had a good sense of humor. Salzano explained her son used to make funny “Star Wars”-style films with his cats and dogs, and do the voices of the different animals.

But she said her son’s strong faith was evident from a young age, even though he did not grow up in a particularly religious household. He would use his pocket money to help the homeless in Milan, stood up for classmates who were bullied and support those whose parents had divorced.

“I was converted by my son,” said Salzano, who explained that an early faith influence on Acutis was their Polish nanny, Beata Sperczynska.

At his tomb in Assisi, where he’s laid out wearing jeans, Nike sneakers and casual top and which is viewable live through a webcam, a steady stream of young visitors now comes to visit.

Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino, the Bishop of Assisi, told CNN that the numbers visiting the church where the young proto-saint is on display are “enormous,” with almost a million visiting last year - and he’s expecting that to grow. He has a global following and in Malvern, Pennsylvania, there is an official shrine to the new saint.

Acutis’ path to sainthood has been unusually swift. A canonization, which is normally a long and expensive process, can take centuries and requires a forensic examination of a candidate’s life. Normally, two miracles must be attributed to a prospective saint’s intercession. Evidence for these miracles is examined by different teams of medical experts and theologians appointed by the Vatican.

Acutis was beatified (declared “blessed”) in 2020 after his first miracle, when he reportedly healed a Brazilian boy with a birth defect that left him unable to eat normally. The boy was reportedly healed after his mother said she prayed to Acutis to intercede and help heal her son.

The second miracle attributed to Acutis relates to the reported healing of a girl from Costa Rica who had suffered a head trauma after falling from her bicycle in Florence, Italy, where she was studying. Her mother said she prayed for her daughter’s recovery at the tomb of Acutis in Assisi.

Now that Acutis has been canonized, churches and schools across the world can be dedicated to him.

Despite Acutis’ popular following, his canonization is not without its critics. Some argue that Acutis’ cause is being used to promote some “problematic,” backward-looking theology.

Acutis’ website collated reports of miracles relating to the Eucharist to promote the Catholic belief that during the Mass the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ (the appearances of bread and wine remain). Acutis’ site reported incidents of the host – the bread used in the rite – beginning to bleed or even exhibiting living tissue.

“A young person who is enthusiastic about the Eucharistic celebration is a beautiful thing,” Andrea Grillo, a professor at the Pontifical Athenaeum of Sant’ Anselmo in Rome, told CNN. “But if he is looking to collect ‘Eucharistic miracles,’ then he is on the wrong track and must be guided in an authoritative manner.”

Grillo said “everyone should have been more cautious” with the cause, and that it is “not a virtue” to seek miracles.

“It seems to me that there is a desire to steer the Church towards a very problematic devotion and a search for ‘special signs,’” he explained. “The Eucharist is what the Church becomes: Acutis was taught and imposed old models of spirituality and devotion.”

Twelve years and three months after his death, Acutis’ body was exhumed and then placed in a wax covering, which was molded to look like him before his burial and he was then placed in a glass sarcophagus in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Assisi.

A fragment of his heart – part of the pericardium – has been removed as a relic and is being put on display in various churches across the world. The relic was on display at the end of July and early August at the church of San Marcello al Corso during a youth event in Rome. The church was packed with young people.

“I feel like I have a closer connection to him because I was born on the year that he died,” Gary Friesen, 19, from Canada, told CNN outside the church at the time.

“He had a lot of passion for the internet, for social media and the website for evangelization. And I have the same hobbies as him and on Instagram I try to spread the gospel as best as I can.”

Outside the same church was Olivia Santarelli, 21, from Vancouver. She told CNN that Acutis’ appeal was down to him being “just like us” and “a regular teenage guy.”

She said: “He liked sports. He liked the internet, of course, and so he really just represents us young people and we have all these interests, but first and foremost for him was Jesus.”(CNN)

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