Pope Leo XIV canonized Italian teenager Carlo Acutis in celebration held at the Vatican this Sunday (7). The young man, who died at age 15 due to leukemia, became the first saint of the millennial generation in the history of the Catholic Church. Vatican theologian and expert Raylson Araújo, in an interview with CNN, explained why this is a case of canonization, not beatification.
According to her, it represents a significant milestone for the Church, not just for its youth, but mainly by symbolizing the timeliness of the Christian message to the new generations. Unlike other young saints, such as Maria Goretti and José Sánchez del Río, Acutis was not a martyr, but reached holiness through her daily virtues.
Sanctification process
The path to holiness in the Catholic Church involves specific steps. Initially, the process begins in the diocese where the person lived, with the collection of testimonies about his life. The candidate then goes through different stages: Servant of God, venerable and later beatified.
For beatification, proven miracle is required except in cases of martyrdom. Canonization requires a second miracle after beatification. The term “beatified” means “the one who is happy,” indicating someone who has found happiness through the Gospel and now contemplates heavenly beatitude.
Meaning of Holiness
In Catholic theology, a saint serves as a model of virtues and intercessor with Jesus Christ. Carlo Acutis’s case shows that it is possible to live evangelical values in the contemporary world, even in the midst of ordinary activities such as studies, family meetings and social life.
The canonization of Acutis also marks the first ceremony of this type led by, establishing a special connection between the pontiff, which discovered his vocation still in childhood, and the young saint who lived his faith in an extraordinary way in ordinary circumstances.
