The Catholic Church’s 1st millennial saint was a teen who liked video games and computers | CBC Radio

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.

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. 

“We’ve nicknamed him the patron saint of the internet,” Rev. Ed Howe of the Carlo Acutis Parish in Chicago, told As It Happens host Nil Kӧksal. 

“The Vatican calls him the Apostle of the Eucharist and patron of young people, and some people call him the patron saint of computer programmers.”

80,000 attend canonization 

Pope Leo, the first U.S. pontiff, canonized Acutis during an open-air mass in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, making him an officially recognized Catholic saint alongside Pier Giorgio Frassati, a young Italian man who was known for helping those in need and died of polio in the 1920s.

In the Catholic faith, a saint is someone who lived a virtuous, holy and heroic life and is believed to have ascended to Heaven. 

An estimated 80,000 people gathered for the ceremony, including young Catholics from all over the world, and millennial-aged couples with children. 

Antonio D’Averio, 24, who was at the ceremony, called the canonization “a hand extended by the Church toward us young people.” 

D’Averio, himself a computer programmer, said he identified with Acutis.

“He, too, was passionate about computer science,” said the young man. “For a saint, it’s certainly something new. It’s also something that, in my opinion, was needed.”

Clara Marugan Martin, 20, travelled from Spain for the event.

“We are very pleased to be here because Carlo and Pier Giorgio are two examples of young people full of God, full of grace, and we want to follow their steps,” she said.

Who was Carlo Acutisa?

Acutis was born on May 3, 1991, in London, England, and grew up in Milan, Italy. He’s not the youngest saint, but is the first from the millennial generation, roughly defined as those born between the early 1980s and late ’90s. . 

As a child, he was particularly interested in computer science and was known to read college-level books on programming.

He put those skills to use building and maintaining a multilingual website documenting Eucharistic miracles recognized by the church. At the time, website creation was still largely the domain of professional programmers.

“He wanted to use modern-day technology to advance the gospel,” Howe said.

He was also known for his intense devotion, attending church every day and regularly praying before the Eucharist, a holy sacrament of wine and bread believed to become the blood and body of Christ.

Acutis died in October 2006 just days after being diagnosed with acute leukemia. In the years since, young Catholics have flocked by the millions to his resting place in Assisi, Italy, where they can see the young saint through a glass-sided tomb, dressed in jeans, Nike sneakers and a sweatshirt. 

“He dressed like young people today, and you know, he played video games, he had dogs and cats,” Howe said. “A lot of young people can relate to all that, and then see in all of that how he was devoted to Christ and how he wanted to live his life as a faithful disciple.”

Celebrations in Canada and around the world 

The excitement about Saint Acutis has spread far beyond Rome.

At Howe’s parish in Chicago — the first, and currently only, U.S. church named for Acutis — young worshippers have spent all week celebrating “Carlo Fest.” 

They threw a pep rally for their church’s young namesake, held a special mass in his honour, and spent time learning about Acutis and his legacy. 

At Cardinal Carter High School in Leamington, Ont., students ditched their Sunday best this weekend and instead sported jeans and sneakers to honour Acutis.

Jerry Leroux, a minister at the school, says the excitement among students about the canonization has been palpable. 

“Just the mere fact that he was on the Earth while the current teens in our school were on the Earth, I think that makes him relatable, for sure,” Leroux told CBC Radio’s Windsor Morning.

He says students like that Acutis had a lot of the same hobbies as they do, like playing soccer and hanging out with friends. 

“He did all of those normal things that a teenage boy would do, but he also found time to go to church every day, spent time in front of the Eucharist every day, and received communion every day. He had such a devotion and love for Christ and the sacrament that he made that a priority,” Leroux said. 

“It sets an example for our teens today that they don’t have to be cloistered in a church praying, like, 24/7. God wants us to have a life full of joy, but also a life full of faith, too.”

Acutis died fewer than two decades ago and moved quickly along the path to sainthood, a process that can sometimes take hundreds of years.

Howe believes the young saint’s canonization progressed quickly because Pope Leo’s predecessor, Francis, prioritized connecting with young worshippers, and also honouring the holiness of ordinary people. 

“The saints throughout the history of the church oftentimes have not been world figures. They’ve been people who made a difference in their communities, in their towns, in their neighbourhoods, and other people found them as angels or the saint next door,” Howe said.

“They’re the good neighbour. They’re the person who goes out of their way to help other people. They are people who are devoted in their faith. And Carlo Acutis, as a young person, was that person for others.”

Interview with Rev. Ed Howe produced by Livia Dyring. With files from Reuters, The Associated Press and CBC Windsor