On Sunday, September 7, Pope Leo XIV will preside over his first canonization ceremony to create the first millennial saint, Carlo Acutis.

A ceremony that had been scheduled for earlier this year but was postponed following the death in April of Pope Francis.

“This will be Pope Leo's first canonization. And he's a Chicago pope. And for us, a Chicago Pope is canonizing the patron of a Chicago parish,” said the Rev. Ed Howe of Blessed Carlo Acutis Parish in Chicago’s Northwest Side.

“Saints in the past were not always world figures. They were the Saint next door. Those are the words of Pope Francis. And Carlo Acutis is all of that,” said Fr. Howe.

Blessed Carlo Acutis has shot to fame among many young Catholics around the world, generating a global following the likes of which the Catholic Church hasn’t seen in ages.

Much of that popularity is thanks to a concerted campaign by the Vatican to give the next generation of faithful a relatable, modern-day role model, who used his technological talents to spread the faith.

Blessed Carlo Acutis Parish and school in Chicago was the first in the United States to take its name from Acutis, who died in 2006 at age 15 and is about to become history's first millennial saint. 

In the run-up to Acutis' canonization Sunday the school’s students have been attending a nine-day novena prayer ahead of the ceremony at the Blessed Carlo Acutis Parish and school.

Students have been reading various books about Carlo Acutis' life. They’ve drawn pictures of what the teenage Italian computer whiz might have had as his cellphone wallpaper. And they’ve discussed the miracles that allegedly occurred thanks to Acutis' intercession.

“I've had some people come up to me and say, why is the church canonizing this teenager who died at 15? And a lot of it has to do with the way he lived his life in today's current age,” said Howe.

Acutis was born on May 3, 1991, in London, but grew up a typical child in Milan, Italy.

In October 2006, at age 15, he fell ill with what was quickly diagnosed as acute leukemia. Within days he died. He was entombed in Assisi, which known for its association with another popular saint, St. Francis.

“Him being the first millennial saint, it really puts a staple into the Catholic Church,” said Leo Kowalsky, an 8th Grade student at St. John Berchmans’ School.

In a remarkably quick process, Acutis was beautified in 2020 and last year the late Pope Francis approved the second miracle needed for him to be made a saint.

“Carlo Acutis did a lot of great things at such a young age, and it's very like inspiring and motivating that we can do the same thing, as well as the Pope, him canonizing Carlo Acutis, so it's like my name canonizing our patron saint, it's kind of all mashed up into one thing, so it was a joy to be a part of,” said Kowalsky. 

For his admirers, Acutis was an ordinary kid who did extraordinary things. He played soccer and loved animals. But he also brought food to the poor, attended Mass daily and got his less-than-devout parents back to church.

Acutis also earned the nickname “God’s Influencer” because he used technology to spread the faith.

“Carlo Acutis was very concerned about how his friends and others were using technology, especially gaming and computer use. And he said, this stuff is too crazy, we need to limit it, but we also need to use it in the best way that we can, in his case, for advancing the gospel, building the kingdom of God,” said Fr. Howe.

His most well-known tech legacy is the website he created about so-called Eucharistic miracles, available in nearly 20 different languages.

The site compiles information about the 196 seemingly inexplicable events over the history of the church related to the Eucharist, which the faithful believe is the body of Christ.

“What I learned from him is that you can use technology to play video games and stuff, but you can also use technology to bring you closer to God,” said St. John Berchmans’ School fourth grader, David Calderon. “He played video games for like only one hour a week, which I don't think I can do.” 

Acutis was also known to spend hours in prayer before the Eucharist each day, a practice known as Eucharistic adoration.

“I feel like today, like in this day and age, a lot of people are like on social media or play video games, and I definitely do too, but it's like so inspiring and so cool to see that he used something so big like technology and media, and like he literally made a website to help people learn about the Eucharistic miracles and stuff, so yeah, it's really cool,” said 8th grader Sona Harrison.

“And so it's really nice to have someone who's like closer to my age, like a millennial saint. I feel like he's a lot more relatable and I, I feel like I'm closer to God when I read about him or I just like think about Carlo Acutis in general,” she said.

In the years since his death, young Catholics have flocked by the millions to Assisi, where through a glass-sided tomb they can see the young Acutis, dressed in jeans, Nike sneakers and a sweatshirt, his hands clasped around a Rosary.

Those who can’t attend his canonization in person can watch the comings and goings on a webcam pointed at his tomb, a level of Internet accessibility not afforded to even popes buried in St. Peter’s Basilica.