The Vatican has postponed the canonisation of British teenager Carlo Acutis following the death of Pope Francis.
Acutis, who died of leukaemia in 2006 aged 15, was set to become the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint on April 27.
“Following the death of the Sovereign Pontiff Francis, we inform you that the Eucharistic Celebration and Rite of Canonisation of Blessed Carlo Acutis… has been postponed,” the Vatican said in a brief statement.
The announcement came just hours after Pope Francis died on Easter Monday at the age of 88.
Carlo Acutis’s body has been preserved for 19 years and is on display at a shrine in Assisi’s Santuario della Spogliazione
Reuters
Acutis was born in London in 1991 to an Italian family who moved to Milan when he was just months old.
He became known as “God’s influencer” for using his computer skills to spread Catholicism, creating websites for local churches and eventually managing a Vatican-based academy site.
His body has been preserved for 19 years and is on display at a shrine in Assisi’s Santuario della Spogliazione.
Visitors can see Acutis dressed in a tracksuit and trainers, with his heart displayed separately in a reliquary at the nearby St. Francis Basilica.
He had requested to be buried in Assisi before his death, admiring St. Francis for his dedication to the poor.
Acutis dedicated his short life to Catholicism, receiving his first communion at seven and attending daily Mass.
As a child, he donated money to the poor and later cooked meals for the homeless.
Each evening, he would reflect on his day and how he could eliminate any sins he may have committed.
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Visitors can see Acutis dressed in a tracksuit and trainers, with his heart displayed separately in a reliquary at the nearby St. Francis Basilica
Reuters
In 2004, Acutis created a website called “The Eucharistic Miracles of the World” where he documented miracles attributed to the Eucharist.
The site aimed at “confirming faith in the real presence of the body and blood of the Lord in the Eucharist.”
He worked on the project for two-and-a-half years, involving much of his family.
The website was unveiled just days before his death on October 12, 2006.
Several years after Acutis’s death, the Vatican concluded he had interceded from heaven to help a young Brazilian boy suffering from a rare pancreatic disease.
Matheus Vianna, diagnosed with annular pancreas at age two, was reportedly healed after his mother prayed to Acutis.
This first miracle led Pope Francis to name Acutis “venerable” in 2018 and “blessed” in 2020.
A second miracle occurred in 2022 when a Costa Rican woman recovered from severe head trauma after a bicycle accident.
Her mother had prayed at Acutis’s tomb, and the woman’s brain haemorrhage disappeared within days.
The Vatican confirmed this second miracle in May 2024, completing Acutiss path to sainthood.
When a pope dies, several church functions slow down or come to a halt until a new pope is elected.
Final approvals, such as setting canonisation dates, are generally pushed back during this transition period.
Pope Francis died on Easter Monday, just a day after making his final public appearance at St Peter’s Square.
The pontiff’s passing has plunged 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide into mourning.
