Pope Francis' death prompts postponement of millennial saint Carlo Acutis' canonization
The service admitting the first millennial into sainthood has been postponed following the death of Pope Francis, Reuters reported.
Francis, 88, died early in the morning on April 21, Easter Monday. He was known for being a reformer who sought to make the Catholic Church more inclusive.
A canonization service to make Italian teen Carlo Acutis a saint was scheduled for April 27 and expected to draw tens of thousands of visitors to St. Peter's Square, according to Reuters. Acutis used his coding skills to spread the faith online and died at 15 years old from cancer.
The ongoing Jubilee, or Catholic Holy Year, will proceed as planned despite the Pope's death, a Vatican spokesperson told Reuters.
Who is soon-to-be Saint Carlo Acutis?
Acutis was a British-born Italian teen who used his tech skills to spread the Catholic faith.
He was born on May 3, 1991, in London and died on Oct. 12, 2006 in Italy after battling leukemia, reports Vatican News. Before his death, he considered becoming a priest, reports WJBF.
The teen's beatification took place in 2020, meaning the pope declared the teen attained the blessedness of heaven, and Acutis was given the title of Blessed.
Two miraculous medical healings have been attributed to Acutis, a necessary step in both being beatified and becoming a saint, Reuters reported.
The College of Cardinals voted to canonize the teen in July of 2024, with the ceremony set for this year.
"He was an ordinary boy, a boy who lived his childhood and youth between family, school, and the games children play," said Bishop of Assisi, Domenico Sorrentino, saying Acutic lived a "life of faith that was nurtured until it reached a peak that now makes him stand out in the eyes of the Church and the world as a saint, who will soon be proclaimed."
Kinsey Crowley is a trending news reporter at Paste BN. Reach her at kcrowley@gannett.com. Follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley or Bluesky at @kinseycrowley.bsky.social.