Carlo Acutis, the Catholic Church’s first saint who lived in the 21st century, will be canonised in Rome on Sunday at a ceremony led by Pope Leo XIV in St Peter’s Square.
Known as “God’s influencer”, Carlo Acutis died of leukaemia in 2006 aged 15. He will be the Catholic church’s first millennial saint, following confirmation by the Vatican last year of a second miracle through his intercession, which was needed for his canonisation.
Born in London in 1991, before his family returned to Milan, the teenager was a computer prodigy who helped spread Catholic teaching online before his death. He was scheduled to be canonised last April but this was postponed following the death of Pope Francis on April 21st.
The second person to be canonised is Pier Giorgio Frassati who died of polio in 1925, aged 24. A student, in his young life he was dedicated to social justice issues and worked with organisations such as Catholic Action and St Vincent de Paul to help the poor in his native Turin.
RM Block
Looking towards the canonisations, Bishop Fintan Gavin, chair of the Catholic Bishops Council for Evangelisation, Catechetics and Pastoral Renewal, said the lives of both young men “send a powerful message to young people in our parishes, schools, colleges and those entering the workplace – that true happiness is not only possible today, but is also deeply attractive".
He continued that: “Carlo, who called the Eucharist his ‘highway to heaven’, used his gifts in the digital world to share his love for Jesus. Pier Giorgio, known as ‘the man of the Beatitudes,’ lived his faith with joy, friendship, and a tireless commitment to the poor.”
The canonisation Mass will be broadcast on RTÉ One Television and on RTÉ Radio 1 Extra, from 10.15am.
Across Ireland, throughout Sunday, there will be special Masses to mark the canonisations. At St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh, there will also be a “prayer walk” in the cathedral grounds at 10am, before Mass at 11am celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop of Armagh Michael Router.
In Dublin the canonisations will be livestreamed from 9am from the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary on City Quay, followed by the celebration of Mass at 11am by Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin Paul Dempsey. Relics of Carlo Acutis will be present in the church.
At St Eugene’s Cathedral in Derry there is a specially commissioned wooden statue of Carlo Acutis as well as a relic his mother gave the diocese. A special Mass there will celebrated by Bishop Donal McKeown at 7pm.
At 12.30pm a special Mass will be celebrated in Carlow Cathedral by Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin Denis Nulty, who will also offer a blessing with a relic of Carlo Acutis, while in Birr, Co Offaly a Mass celebrating the canonisations will take place at 7.30pm in St Brendan’s Church there.
