The Canonization Of Saint Carlo Acutis
On 7 September 2025, in St Peter's Square in Rome, Pope Leo XIV declared Carlo Acutis a saint of the Catholic Church, the first person of the millennial generation to be canonized.
What Is Canonization?
Canonization is the solemn act by which the Pope declares that a person is with God in heaven and may be venerated as a saint by the whole Church. It is the final step of a long process that begins locally, moves through the title of Servant of God, then Venerable, then Blessed (beatification), and finally Saint. For a canonization, the Church normally recognises a second miracle worked through the candidate's intercession after their beatification.
For Carlo, that meant a journey of nearly two decades: his cause opened in 2013, he was declared Venerable in 2018, beatified in 2020, and canonized in 2025.
A Date That Had To Change
Carlo's canonization was first announced for 27 April 2025, during the Jubilee of Teenagers in the Holy Year. Those plans changed when Pope Francis, who had done so much to hold Carlo up as a model for young people, died in April 2025. With the See of Rome vacant, the canonization was postponed.
After the conclave elected Pope Leo XIV, the new Pope confirmed that Carlo would be raised to the altars, and a fresh date was set for 7 September 2025. Carlo was canonized together with Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, another young layman known for his joy, his love of the mountains and his care for the poor, pairing two very different but complementary witnesses of young holiness.
The Canonization Mass
The Mass was celebrated in a packed St Peter's Square, with huge numbers of young pilgrims, families and youth groups who had come from around the world. Following the ancient rite, the Church formally requested the canonization, the saints were invoked in the Litany, and Pope Leo XIV pronounced the formula of canonization, inscribing Carlo in the book of the saints and fixing his feast in the calendar.
From that moment, the young man once known as Blessed Carlo could be called Saint Carlo Acutis, honoured with churches, altars and a liturgical feast, and offered to the whole Church as an example and an intercessor.
The Miracle That Opened The Way
The miracle accepted for Carlo's canonization was the healing of Valeria, a young woman from Costa Rica who in 2022 suffered a severe head injury in a bicycle accident while studying in Florence. Given little hope of recovery, her mother travelled to Assisi to pray at Carlo's tomb. Valeria's sudden and complete recovery, judged to have no natural explanation, was recognised by the Church as a miracle through Carlo's intercession.
You can read more about both approved miracles on the miracles page.
Why This Canonization Matters
Carlo is the first saint of the millennial generation, someone who grew up with the internet, played video games and wore jeans and trainers. His canonization tells young people that holiness is not something old-fashioned or out of reach. It can be lived in an ordinary bedroom, on an ordinary laptop, in an ordinary school.
As the Church often repeats in Carlo's own words, "Everyone is born an original, but many die as photocopies." His life, centred on the Eucharist he called his "highway to heaven", is now offered as proof that a modern teenager really can become a saint.