Computer Whiz Who Died In 2006 Could Become 1st Millennial Saint
Carlo Acutis, who died of leukemia at age 15, is a step closer to becoming a saint. He was beatified on Saturday, making him the first millennial to be put on the path to Catholic sainthood.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The Catholic Church announced something unusual over the weekend.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
POPE FRANCIS: (Speaking Italian).
MARTIN: This is Pope Francis saying that 15-year-old Carlo Acutis has been beatified. Carlo died of leukemia in 2006.
NOEL KING, HOST:
The Catholic Church says that Carlo is in heaven, and all that's left in order for him to become a saint is that he performed two verified miracles. Now, the Vatican says he already completed one of those miracles from heaven in 2013 by saving a Brazilian boy who was suffering from pancreatic disease. Here's his mother, Antonia Salzano.
ANTONIA SALZANO: We are touching a lot of hearts. A lot of people are approaching themselves to the Eucharist and are getting closer to the sacraments.
MARTIN: Carlo Acutis created a website to catalog Eucharistic miracles, which are unexplained phenomena involving the Catholic communion. That's made him known among Catholics as a sort of unofficial patron saint of the Internet. Because Carlo died so young and so recently, his mother will be able to present at her son's beatification, which is a rare phenomenon itself.
SALZANO: And he used to say all are born as original, but many die as photocopies.
KING: Carlo's short and extraordinary life will be difficult to duplicate.
(SOUNDBITE OF U137'S "THE NOSTALGIC TUNE")
Copyright © 2020 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.