Carlo Acutis, a British-born Italian teenager who loved gaming and was passionate about the Eucharist, will on Sunday become the first millennial Catholic saint.
Pope Leo XIV will preside over his first canonisation ceremony in St Peter's Square at the Vatican, welcoming the computer whizz into the echelons of revered Christian miracle-makers.
Born in London in 1991, Acutis grew up in a family that wasn’t especially devout, but he always felt a visceral connection to God. At the age of three, he dragged his own mother to Mass, eventually inspiring her conversion. 'To always be close to Jesus, that's my life plan,' he wrote aged seven.
His family relocated to Milan soon after he was born. As soon he started receiving pocket money, he donated it to the poor. Later at school, he defended his disabled peers when they were victims of bullying. His evenings were spent cooking and delivering meals to the homeless.
The unique child even learnt computer code to build websites to spread his faith, creating a site called 'The Eucharistic Miracles of the World' in his final months.
