The canonization of an Italian teenager who was to become the First millennium Saint has been postponed for at least a week after Death of Pope Francis.
The 88 -year -old pontiff died Monday after 12 years as head of the Roman Catholic Church.
The Vatican announced that the canonization of Carlo Acutis would be next Sunday in Saint-Pierre on the occasion of the celebration of the teenage jubilee. It was originally to occur on April 27, the second Sunday of Easter.
Gregorio Borgia / AP
Acutis died of leukemia in 2006 at the age of 15. Born in London of rich Italian parents, he grew up in Milan, where he managed the website of his parish and later an academy based in the Vatican. He also used his IT skills to create an online database of Eucharistic Miracles worldwide.
Its path to holiness started over 10 years ago at the initiative of a group of priests and friends, and officially took off shortly after Francis began his papacy in 2013.
Acutis was named “venerable” in 2018 after the church recognized its virtuous life, and its body – carrying sneakers, jeans and a sweatshirt – was taken to a sanctuaire of the Santuario della Spogliazione in Assisi, Italy. It was a major site linked to the life of Saint-François.
Tiziana Fabi / AFP via Getty Images
The teenager was declared “blessed” or beatified – the first step towards holiness – in 2020 after a miracle was allocated to him. In this miracle, Acutis is recognized for healing a Brazilian child of a congenital illness affecting his pancreas.
A second miracle was Assigned to Acutis in May 2024. This involved the healing of a university student in Florence who had a cerebral bleeding after having undergone a head trauma in a bicycle accident.
Francis and the Cardinals residing in Rome officially approved its canonization in July 2024.
In the months preceding the expected canonization, the faithful clashed at Assisi.