An image of 15-year-old Carlo Acutis, an Italian boy who died in 2006 of leukemia, is seen during his beatification ceremony celebrated by Cardinal Agostino Vallini, center, in the St. Francis Basilica, in Assisi, Italy, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Carlo Acutis, a 15-year-old Italian teenager that passed away in 2006 after losing his battle with leukemia, is set to become the first-ever millennial saint on our planet.
Carlo, who is also known by many as the “patron saint of the internet”, used his skills with computers to spread his faith.
He also recorded a number of “miracles” on the internet and helped run websites for organizations for the church.
On October 10, 2020, Carlo was beatified at a ceremony at the Basilica of St. Francis in the town of Assisi in Italy.
This is the very last step before sainthood, said official reports.
It is believed that Carlo is the youngest person in recent history to reach this stage.
Carlo was made eligible for potential sainthood after the Vatican ruled out that he had “miraculously” saved the life of another boy.
According to Vatican City, Carlo helped health a Brazilian boy and cure his rare disease in 2013.
Cardinal Vallini praised Carlo as being a good example of how people could use the internet and the technology that is present in the world right now to spread the good words of the gospel.
Cardinal Vallini, who is the pontifical legate for the Basilica of St. Francis, said:
The Church rejoices, because in this very young Blessed the Lord’s words are fulfilled: ‘I have chosen you and appointed you to go and bear much fruit.’ And Carlo ‘went’ and brought the fruit of holiness, showing it as a goal reachable by all and not as something abstract and reserved for a few. He was an ordinary boy, simple, spontaneous, likeable … he loved nature and animals, he played football, he had many friends of his age, he was attracted by modern means of social communication, passionate about computer science and, self-taught, he built websites to transmit the Gospel, to communicate values and beauty.
During the Mass, a relic of the heart of the teen was seen being placed close to the altar during the beautification ceremony for Carlo.
An apostolic letter from Pope Francis was also placed near the altar.
The letter declared that a feast day will be taking place in the honor of Carlo annually on October 12, which is his death anniversary.
It is believed that 3,000 people went to Assisi, Italy, to watch the mass.
Carlos will officially become a saint if the Vatican verifies that he carried out a second miracle.
But that can change because recently Pope Francis waived this requirement on special or certain occasions.