Pope Francis has authorised veracity of a miracle attributed to Blessed Carlo Acutis, paving the way for his canonisation some point in the near future.
During an audience granted to Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, the Holy Father has authorised the Dicastery to promulgate a miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Carlo Acutis.
The young layman was born on 3 May 1991, in London, England, and died on 12 October 2006, in Monza, Italy, succumbing to leukemia at the age of 15.
Pope Francis beatified the millennial in 2020 in Assisi, where Blessed Carlo had made multiple pilgrimages and where his mortal remains rest.
The miracle recognised by the Vatican occurred in 2022, when a Costa Rican woman named Liliana prayed at the tomb of Blessed Carlo in Assisi, praying for the recovery of her daughter who had fallen from her bicycle in Florence, where she was attending university.
The daughter, Valeria, had suffered severe head trauma, and required craniotomy surgery and the removal of the right occipital bone to reduce pressure on her brain, with what her doctors said was a very low chance of survival.
On the same day Liliana went to pray at the tomb, the hospital informed her that Valeria had begun to breath spontaneously. The next day, she began to move and partially regain her speech.
On July 18, a CAT scan proved that her hemorrhage had disappeared, and on August 11, Valeria was moved to rehabilitation therapy. She made quick progress, and on September 2, Valeria and Liliana made another pilgrimage to Assisi to thank Blessed Carlo for his intercession.
In their pre-World Youth Day pilgrimage in 2023, students and young adults from Broken Bay visited the tomb of Blessed Carlo Acutis in Assisi. Many young people have an affinity for the young saint, who loved computers and played video games, while also sharing a deep devoting to the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist.
The Archdiocese of Milan opened a cause for canonisation six years after his death and he was named a servant of God in 2013. Pope Francis confirmed he led a life of heroic virtue in 2018 and declared him Venerable. In 2020, a miracle attributed to Acutis’ intercession was verified by the Vatican and he was beatified.
Pope Francis has decided to convene a Consistory of Cardinals to finalise the canonisation of Carlo Acutis, as well as Blesseds Giuseppe Allamano, Marie-Léonie Paradis and Elena Guerra. At this Consistery, the cardinals will given their “placet” (an affirmative vote) to the canonisations.