The canonization for an Italian teenager who was set to become the first millennial saint has been postponed for at least one week after the death of Pope Francis.
The 88-year-old pontiff died Monday after 12 years as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
The Vatican announced that the canonization of Carlo Acutis will be next Sunday in St. Peter’s Square on the occasion of the Jubilee celebration of adolescents.
Gregorio Borgia / AP 
Acutis died of leukemia in 2006 at the age of 15. Born in London to wealthy Italian parents, he grew up in Milan, where he managed the website for his parish and later a Vatican-based academy. He also used his computer skills to create an online database of Eucharistic miracles around the world.
His road to sainthood started more than 10 years ago at the initiative of a group of priests and friends, and formally took off shortly after Francis began his papacy in 2013.
Acutis was named “venerable” in 2018 after the church recognized his virtuous life, and his body – wearing sneakers, jeans and a sweatshirt – was taken to a shrine in the Santuario della Spogliazione in Assisi, Italy. It was a major site linked to St. Francis’ life.
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The teenager was declared “blessed” or beatified — the first step toward sainthood — in 2020 after one miracle was attributed to him. In that miracle, Acutis is credited with healing a Brazilian child of a congenital disease affecting his pancreas.
A second miracle was attributed to Acutis in May 2024. It involved the healing of a university student in Florence who had a brain bleed after suffering head trauma in a bicycle accident.
Francis and the cardinals residing in Rome formally approved his canonization in July 2024.
In the months leading up to the expected canonization, the faithful have been flocking to Assisi.
