Carlo Acutis, a British-born Italian teenager, will become the first millennial saint in the Catholic Church this Sunday, September 7. Thousands of pilgrims are expected to attend the canonisation at St Peter’s Square in the Vatican.

Acutis died of leukaemia in 2006 at the age of 15. He became well-known for using the internet to document Catholic miracles and share his faith, earning the nickname “God’s Influencer.”

His body, dressed casually in jeans and Nike shoes, rests in a glass tomb in Assisi, which draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

Born in London in 1991 to an Italian mother and a father of mixed Italian-English heritage, Acutis grew up in Milan. Although his parents were not very religious, he attended daily Mass and showed great kindness to children who were bullied and to homeless people, often bringing them food and blankets.

He used his computer skills to maintain parish websites and later a Vatican academy website to share Catholic teachings online.

His mother, Antonia Salzano, said Carlo had a close relationship with God from a young age. At seven, he wrote, “My life plan is to be always close to Jesus,” a promise he lived by.

When he was diagnosed with leukaemia in October 2006, he comforted his parents, saying, “I’m happy to die because I’ve lived my life without wasting even a minute on things that wouldn’t please God.” He passed away on October 12, 2006.

The Vatican recognised two miracles through Carlo Acutis: the healing of a Brazilian child with a rare pancreatic condition and the recovery of a Costa Rican student seriously injured in an accident. These miracles led to his beatification in 2020 by Pope Francis.

More than 800 pilgrims are expected to travel from Assisi to Rome for the canonisation. Carlo had wished to be buried in Assisi, the home of his inspiration, Saint Francis, who dedicated his life to helping the poor.

Alongside Acutis, Italian Pier Giorgio Frassati will also be canonised. Frassati, who died from polio in 1925 at the age of 24, was a mountaineer and social activist known for helping the poor.

A second miracle attributed to him involved the unexplained recovery of a young American man from a coma. His casket bears the words “Verso l’alto” (“To the heights”), reflecting his love for mountains.

Sunday’s canonisation will be Pope Leo XIV’s first since his election in May. It takes place during the Catholic Jubilee, a “Holy Year” that has brought over 24 million pilgrims to Rome, according to the Vatican.