In a mass on September 7, Pope Leo XIV will formally canonize Carlo Acutis (1991 – 2006). I.e., Acutis will become a saint in the Catholic Church, right along with Peter and Paul, but also more recent saints like Oscar Romero and Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
Acutis will become the “first Millennial saint”. Much is being made of the fact that he was computer-literate, and “liked the Simpsons”. Acutis did much of his evangelizing online, through websites he created.
I have seen some objections on social media about making so much of Acutis’s “Millennial” status. I agree that there is a bit of overhype on this aspect of the youth’s life. He died before anyone was talking much about the Millennial generation; and how much did generational identity really concern him anyway, at the age of 15?
But this makes him accessible to young people who perhaps see Catholicism and even religious faith itself as distant and irrelevant to their lives.
Even the notion of sainthood will be controversial to some readers. Protestants do not recognize saints as special figures who can intercede with God on our behalf. Atheists and agnostics, of course, don’t believe in anything at all.
I was raised Roman Catholic, so the concepts of saints and sainthood are familiar to me. I’m not an expert on such matters, but I do know that there is a rigorous vetting process (as well as a requirement of two miracles).
Whatever you believe, Carlo Acutis does appear to have been a devout and genuinely benevolent individual whose life was cut tragically short. If there are to be new saints, the Catholic Church could do much worse than this young man.
And this is the opinion of an observer who is a long, long way from any form of sainthood.
-ET