A teenager known as "God's influencer" who loved videogames and spread the gospel online has been canonised as a saint. Carlos Acutis died in 2006 at 15 years of age from leukaemia, but dedicated his short life to spreading awareness of the Catholic faith and helping the poor.
Acutis was canonised in an ancient ritual led by Pope Leo, who himself has a good shout to be the first gaming Pope. The teenager's path to sainthood has been remarkably short: the campaign to have him canonised began six years after his death in 2012; he was decreed "Venerable" in 2018, "Blessed" in 2020, and now the Pope has formally declared Acutis a saint in St Peter's Square in Vatican City.
Born in London, Acutis was still a baby when his Italian parents returned home, and he would spend the rest of his life in Milan. Acutis' family recalls him enjoying videogames including, of course, Halo, as well as the likes of Mario and Pokémon. He got a PlayStation when he was eight but, as a true servant of the Lord, restricted himself to one hour of play a day.
It should also be said that Acutis was clearly a remarkable child. From the age of nine he would spend time helping the homeless and, among other things, insisted on only owning one pair of shoes, with any money saved going to help the poor.
Candidates for sainthood require two distinct miracles attributed to them: Acutis was first beatified in 2020 after a Brazilian boy with a pancreatic defect was cured, following his mother's prayers to Acutis to help her son. The second miracle involves the reported healing of a Costa Rican girl who suffered a serious head injury after falling off her bike in Florence: her mother prayed for the girl's recovery at Acutis' tomb in Assisi, and her daughter made a full recovery.
Acutis also created a popular website documenting miracles as a means of spreading the Catholic message, which is what led to the nickname of "God's influencer." There is perhaps a sense that Acutis has been fast-tracked to sainthood due to his appeal to younger people and association with things like the internet and videogames. But don't take my word for it:
"He used to play Super Mario video games on the old Nintendo consoles and I've always loved video games," Diego Sarkissian told the BBC. "The fact that you can think of a saint doing the same things [as you], wearing jeans, it feels so much closer than what other saints have felt like in the past."
"As I did, you too can become holy," Acutis' mother Antonia Salzano told CNN last year. "Nevertheless, (with) all the media, the technologies, it seems sometimes that holiness is something that belongs to the past. Instead, holiness is also something nowadays in this modern time."
Acutis' tomb in Assisi, where his body lies preserved in wax, is now established as a pilgrimage site. Following his canonisation, the Catholic Church will remember Acutis annually on a feast day, and parishes and schools can be named after him.
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