Carlo Acutis, who died in 2006 and built websites to spread Catholic message, to become first millennial saint
In a see-through safe carved into a wall behind the altar of a chapel in northern Rome lies a collection of relics of Carlo Acutis. These include a splinter from his wooden bed, a fragment of a jumper and a piece of the sheet used to cover him after his death. Locks of his hair are on display in other churches in the Italian capital and beyond.
Acutis, the London-born Italian who on Sunday will become the Catholic church’s first millennial saint, built websites to spread Catholic teaching, earning him the nickname “God’s Influencer” after his death, aged 15, from leukaemia.
Shrines such as this form part of an ancient ritual bestowed upon the church’s highest-ranking dead and will provide believers with tangible reminders of his life. Minuscule though the relics at Sant’Angela Merici are, Danilo Spagnoletti, the parish priest, believes they help instil courage in pilgrims.
“Praying close to a saint’s remains helps them to face difficulties in life,” he said. “In particular, this saint, who had a short life but was far advanced in many ways, is a source of inspiration for young people.”
