On September 7, 2025, a historic ceremony at St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican will see the canonization of two young men who have inspired generations of Catholics: Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati. For the first time, a millennial—Acutis, the teenager dubbed “God’s influencer”—will be officially declared a saint, marking a significant moment in the Catholic Church’s ongoing effort to connect with the digital age and younger believers worldwide.
The joint canonization Mass, to be celebrated by Pope Leo XIV, will be broadcast globally on Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) and Vatican News channels, beginning at 3 a.m. EST. Thousands of pilgrims are expected to fill St. Peter’s Square, with millions more tuning in from around the world. Both Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati were laymen—ordinary people who lived extraordinary lives, serving as role models for faith, charity, and engagement with the modern world.
Carlo Acutis’s story is one that resonates deeply with today’s youth. Born in London in 1991 to Italian parents, he was raised in Milan from infancy. Despite his family’s lack of religious fervor—his father, Andrea, chaired an insurance company, and his mother, Antonia, worked in publishing—Carlo displayed a profound spiritual inclination from a remarkably young age. “At just three years old, he was drawn to churches. He wanted to go inside them. My own faith at the time was lukewarm, but Carlo was deeply religious,” his mother Antonia Salzano Acutis told The Post. By five and a half, he was praying the rosary daily, and he attended Mass as often as possible.
But Acutis was also a child of his era. He loved soccer, basketball, tennis, and video games—his favorites included "The Simpsons," "Pokémon," and "Dragon Ball." His favorite sports team was AC Milan, and he was known for his generosity, often giving away gifts to those less fortunate. “Whenever I gave him something nice, he would immediately pass it on to someone else,” his mother recalled. His grandfather remembered Carlo’s sportsmanship: “When we played Ping-Pong, he would say, ‘Take this paddle, it’s the best one.’”
By age nine, Acutis was already skilled in the C++ programming language. At just eleven, he launched a website cataloguing Eucharistic miracles—phenomena Catholics believe demonstrate the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The site, still active today, has been translated into nearly twenty languages and serves as a digital guide to prayer and miracles. This pioneering use of technology earned him the nickname “God’s influencer.”
Carlo’s faith remained steadfast even as he faced a devastating diagnosis. In October 2006, he succumbed to acute leukemia at the age of fifteen. Throughout his illness, he maintained a remarkable composure. "When doctors asked him, ‘Are you suffering?’ he answered, ‘Don’t worry. There are people who suffer more than me,’” his mother shared with The Post. His enduring happiness, she said, stemmed from his closeness to God: “Carlo was always happy, because he lived in the presence of God.”
The road to sainthood in the Catholic Church is long and rigorous, requiring the recognition of two miracles attributed to the candidate’s intercession after death. For Acutis, the first miracle involved the 2013 healing of Matheus Vianna, a Brazilian boy suffering from annular pancreas—a rare and painful condition. After kissing a relic of Acutis’s T-shirt, Matheus was reportedly cured, with medical personnel confirming the healing was scientifically inexplicable. The second miracle, recognized in 2024, concerned the recovery of Valeria Valverde, a 21-year-old university student in Florence, Italy, who suffered a severe head injury. Her mother prayed at Acutis’s tomb in Assisi, and Valeria’s subsequent recovery was also deemed miraculous by Vatican investigators.
Since his death, devotion to Carlo Acutis has surged worldwide. Millions of young Catholics have visited his tomb in Assisi, where his body lies in a glass-sided coffin, dressed in jeans, sneakers, and a sweatshirt—a far cry from the traditional imagery of sainthood. Catholic schools and parishes across continents have organized prayers and educational activities inspired by his life. In Chicago, Blessed Carlo Acutis Parish—the first in the United States named after him—has introduced students to his story through books and lessons. Rev. Ed Howe, the parish pastor, described Acutis as “a saint next door,” underscoring his relatability and the message that holiness is attainable in everyday life.
The Vatican has strongly promoted Acutis as a modern role model. Pope Francis, who advanced Acutis’s cause for sainthood, praised his understanding of both the opportunities and dangers of digital culture. In a 2019 letter, Francis wrote that Acutis “knew how to use new communications technology to transmit the Gospel, to communicate values and beauty,” while also recognizing the risks of consumerism and distraction online. The Church’s emphasis on Acutis reflects a broader campaign to present saints who embody contemporary challenges and connect with the realities of young Catholics.
Alongside Acutis, the canonization will honor Pier Giorgio Frassati, a young Italian layman from Turin who died in 1925 at the age of twenty-four. Frassati was renowned for his social justice work and compassion for the poor. Born into privilege—his father was a senator and founder of La Stampa newspaper—Frassati nonetheless dedicated his life to serving others. His acts of charity were legendary: he once gave his shoes and socks to a barefoot child and was known to enter the poorest neighborhoods to offer comfort and assistance.
Frassati died from polio, likely contracted through his charitable work. The first miracle attributed to his intercession was the 1933 cure of Domenico Sellan from paralyzing spinal tuberculosis. The second, recognized in 2024, involved the healing of Juan Gutierrez, a seminarian in California who tore his Achilles tendon in 2017. After a novena of prayers to Frassati, Gutierrez experienced a sensation of heat around the injury and was soon able to walk without a brace; subsequent scans showed the tear had disappeared. These events, confirmed by medical investigation, satisfied the Church’s requirements for canonization.
The process of canonization is both spiritual and practical, involving extensive documentation, medical scrutiny, and significant financial resources—costs can range from $250,000 to $500,000, according to Rev. Patrick Flanagan, chair of St. John’s University’s theology department. Yet for many, the recognition of saints like Acutis and Frassati is invaluable, offering contemporary examples of faith, courage, and compassion.
As the world watches the Vatican ceremony, the stories of Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati stand as powerful reminders that sainthood is not reserved for the distant past or the cloistered few. Their lives—rooted in everyday joys, struggles, and acts of kindness—continue to inspire a new generation to seek the extraordinary in the ordinary.