Pope recognises second miracle by 'God's influencer' as the Catholic Church prepares to canonise its first gamer saint

A teenager known as «God's influencer» who spread the gospel on the web and loved videogames is to be canonised as a saint, the Vatican has announced. Carlo Acutis was born in 1991 and will become the Catholic Church's first «millennial saint» after his canonization was approved by cardinals convened by Pope Francis.

Acutis died in 2006 at 15 years old from leukaemia, but dedicated his short life to spreading awareness of the Catholic faith and helping the poor. He was born in London to Italian parents but would go on to spend most of his life in Milan. Acutis is remembered by family as enjoying playing videogames such as Halo (naturally), Super Mario and Pokémon, and had a PlayStation from eight years old: though the devout young man limited himself to one hour's play a day.

The process for becoming a saint can take decades if not hundreds of years, but Acutis has become a cause celebre among Catholics and is a hugely popular figure. The teenager, who is most often depicted in jeans and trainers, was nicknamed «God's influencer» for both his online work and being emblematic of the younger generation of Catholics: Acutis created a website documenting reports of miracles across the world which found a huge following.

«As I did, you too can become holy,» his mother Antonia Salzano told CNN in May. «Nevertheless, (with) all the media, the technologies, it seems sometimes that holiness is something that belongs to the past. Instead, holiness is also something nowadays in this modern time.»

Salzano went on to say that, from the age of nine, Acutis would spend time helping the Milanese homeless and, among other things, insisted on only owning one pair of shoes, with any money saved going to help the poor. 

Becoming a saint requires that candidates have two distinct miracles attributed to them, which are examined in considerable detail by church authorities. Acutis was first beatified in 2020 after a Brazilian boy with a pancreatic defect was cured, following his mother's