VATICAN CITY, Italy (LifeSiteNews) — Blessed Carlo Acutis is set to become the first millennial saint after the pope recognized his second miracle for canonization.
On May 23, Pope Francis attributed the miraculous healing of a 21-year-old girl from Costa Rica to the intercession of Blessed Carlo Acutis, making it possible for him to be canonized during the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year.
Pope Francis will convene a consistory of cardinals to move forward with the canonization process, the Holy See Press Office stated. In addition to Acutis, Francis similarly moved to proceed with “the canonization of Blessed Emanuel Ruiz and 7 Companions, of the Order of Friars Minor, and Francis, Abdel Mooti and Raphael Massabki, Faithful Laymen, killed in hatred of the Faith in Damascus (Syria) between July 9 and 10, 1860.”
The process for canonization in the Catholic Church begins with a diocesan investigation led by a bishop. It may then proceed to Rome, where the Congregation for the Causes of Saints may then declare the person a “servant of God.”
Further investigation is carried out and claims of miracles are investigated, leading to the pope’s potential decisions to declare the person venerable, blessed, or ultimately, a saint.
The second miracle
In July 2022, a young woman, Valeria Valverde, was near death after seriously injuring her head in a bicycle accident while studying in Florence, Italy.
Valeria suffered severe head trauma and required craniotomy surgery and the removal of the right occipital bone to reduce pressure on her brain. Doctors told her family that she had a very low chance of surviving the procedure.
Six days after the accident, her mother, Liliana, prayed at Blessed Carlo’s tomb in Assisi and left a letter describing her daughter’s situation. Liliana’s secretary also began praying for Blessed Carlo Acutis’s intercession.
The same day that her mother visited Carlo’s tomb, Valeria began to breath on her own. By the next day, Valeria had recovered the use of her upper limbs and partially regained her speech.
On July 18, a CAT scan revealed that her hemorrhage had disappeared. Soon after, on August 11, Valeria was sent to rehabilitation therapy, where she made quick progress.
In September, just two months after her accident, Valeria and Liliana travelled to Carlo’s tomb in Assisi to thank the young saint for his intercession.
The first millennial saint
With the approval of his second miracle, Carlo is well on his way to becoming the first millennial saint.
Born in 1991, Carlo, an English-born Italian, is known for his devotion to the Holy Eucharist which led him to create a website documenting all the approved Eucharistic miracles and Marian apparitions.
His exhibition on Eucharistic miracles premiered in 2005 during the Year of the Eucharist proclaimed by Pope St. John Paul II. It has now been displayed at thousands of parishes on five continents.
Even as a young child, Carlo’s devotion was evident, as he sought to attend daily Mass as often as possible at the parish church across the street from his elementary school in Milan.
“To always be united to Jesus: This is my life plan,” he told his mother shortly after his first Communion at the age of seven.
His holiness and devotion inspired those around him, including his parents, who returned to the Catholic faith, and his Hindu au pair, who was baptized into the Catholic Church.
Carlo died in 2006 from leukemia and was beatified in October 2020 be Pope Francis.
During his life, Carlo referred to the Eucharist as “my highway to heaven.”
“People who place themselves before the sun get a tan; people who place themselves before the Eucharist become saints,” he would say.