By
Briac Trébert
Published on
May 24, 2024 at 4:11 p.m.
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The Pope approved, this Thursday, May 23, 2024, the decrees to lead to the canonization the young Carlo Acutis buried in Assisi, a town between Rome and Florence, Italy. He will thus become the first saint to die in the 21st century.
Died in 2006 at the age of 15 following a devastating leukemia, Carlo Acutis, born in London, but who very quickly lived in Milan, was beatified by Pope Francis in October 2020.
The dicastery for the “causes of saints”, a Vatican body in charge of beatification and canonization investigations, has just attributed a new miracle to this young Italian. To become a saint, he needed a second miracle. The healing of a dying child in Brazil in 2013 had already been attributed to him.
Valeria’s sudden and inexplicable healing
The Vatican this time studied a healing also considered miraculous of a young woman, Valeria, originally from Costa Rica who came to study in Florence, in 2018.
Following a fall while cycling in the streets of the city, the student was taken to hospital with “very serious head trauma”. His mother then prayed to Carlo Acutis who now rests in the “sanctuary of the counting”, the destination of countless pilgrimages.
The young woman healed completely and very quickly, to the surprise of the doctors. Now 23, Valeria is about to graduate, pursuing her dream of going into fashion and moving to Florence.
The news from the Careggi hospital was bad: very serious head trauma, craniotomy operation, removal of the right occipital bone to relieve pressure, almost zero hope of survival. On July 8, 2018, the hospital informed that Valeria had started breathing spontaneously again, and the next day, moving and partially speaking. Then, on July 18, the scan showed that the hemorrhage had disappeared.
At the time of the accident, Liliana, the young girl’s mother, had gone to Assisi to pay her respects at the grave of Carlo Acutis. She had left a letter there and returned to her daughter’s bedside. A few weeks later, mother and daughter were back in Assisi, at the grave of Carlo Acutis, to say thank you.
What is canonization?
Canonization consists of making a Catholic man or woman a “saint”, that is to say an example of holiness and virtues for the faithful. It is about highlighting a character from history corresponding to the values of the Church. It requires three conditions: to have been dead for at least five years, to have led an exemplary Christian life and to have performed at least two miracles.
“Canonization is the solemn act by which the pope decrees that a servant of God, already counted among the blessed (Editor’s note: therefore beatified), must be inscribed in the catalog of saints and venerated in the universal (Latin) Church” , summarizes the conference of bishops of France.
The patron saint of Internet users
Carlo Acutis is often presented in the Catholic Church as the patron saint of Internet users. Very pious, the young man had created websites, notably a site on… religious miracles.
“All men are born as originals, but many die as photocopies, don’t let this happen to you!” “, the young man recommended to his generation. This quote was included by Pope Francis in 2019 in a long text addressed to young people, warning them against an internet guided by “gigantic economic interests” and spreading “fake news”.
It is true that the digital world can expose you to the risk of withdrawal, isolation or empty pleasure. But don’t forget that there are young people who are also creative, and sometimes brilliant, in this environment.
The teenager was “capable of using new communication techniques to transmit the Gospel, to communicate values and beauty,” Francis also admired. He himself punctuated his text intended for young people with expressions taken from new technologies, saying for example that the memory of God “is not a hard drive” and that Jesus “is online”.
“He always wanted to enter churches to greet Jesus”
Nicknamed the “geek of God”, Carlo Acutis is a very inspiring figure for young Catholics today, explains Christian family, who emphasizes that Carlo Acutis had shown a keen interest in the faith at a very young age. However, it was not her parents who instilled it in her since her mother, Antonia Acutis, says that she had not gone to mass more than three times before her marriage.
“When Carlo was four years old, he showed a great interest in religion. He always wanted to enter churches to greet Jesus, give him kisses, he picked flowers and brought them to the Virgin Mary. He asked me a lot of questions but I was very ignorant about things of faith. I was not an ideal example for my son,” she confides. The day of his canonization should be announced at a future consistory.
Beatifications and canonizations are not uncommon. Since his election in 2013, Pope Francis has already proclaimed several. Canonization also makes it possible to attract pilgrims near the places of life and death of the new “saints”.
For the Church, these gatherings are an opportunity to raise money through donations or through the sale of objects. Financial benefits go far beyond the framework of the Church: hotels, restaurants, businesses, etc. The entire local economy generally benefits from the arrival of pilgrims.
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