Carlo Acutis’s link with four popes

Rome welcomed hundreds of thousands of pilgrims this weekend who arrived from all over the world to participate in the funeral of Pope Francis. Among them, there was a teenage tide That initially came to attend the canonization of Carlo Acutis, scheduled for April 27, but postponed after the death of Pope Francis.

This providential “God theidant”, which allowed to celebrate the Pope’s funeral with thousands of boys who traveled to the eternal city to “make mess” during the jubilee, has made the history of the first Millennial holy, who offered his illness for the church, is already marked by four pontificate.

The “stops” of his highway to heaven

Montserrat traveled to Rome with her son Jorge and her husband Jose María to participate in the Canonization of Carlo Acutis on April 27. “Today is my saint, the Virgin of Montserrat, and for me it was a symbol to canonize him this day,” he said with emotion.

Shortly before the Mass presided by Cardinal Parolin began to close the jubilee of the adolescent, just one day after Pope Francis’s funeral, he stood out in conversation with ACI Press that Acutis’s link with four popes represents “the stops of his highway to heaven”.

Visibly excited, she revealed that she has asked Carlo Acutis a miracle: the healing of her son Jorge. “Nothing happens by chance,” says Montse, who defines the saint as “a believer, devout, pious” who loved the poor, just like Pope Francis.

“It is the small details that made him great. Carlo Acutis embodies what a holy person should be,” adds the mother of the family, who tomorrow plans to visit Carlo Acutis’s tomb in Assisi.

Together with San Juan Pablo II for his love of the Eucharist

Carlo Acutis died in 2006 at age 15 after a hard battle against leukemia. His love for the Eucharist led him to evangelize young people, especially through the Internet. Therefore, many know him as “God’s influencer” or “the saint of the Internet.”

His deep Eucharistic devotion joined him in a special way with San Juan Paul II, for whom the Eucharist was “the secret” of his life.

During the year of the Eucharist, proclaimed by San Juan Paul II in 2005, Acutis began with the dissemination of Eucharistic miracles through the Internet. Years before, in 2000, he had also participated in the Great Jubilee convened by the Polish Pope.

Offered his suffering for Benedict XVI

The link with Benedict XVI was also very significant. The young man, before he died, entrusted his mother to offer all his suffering to the Lord “for the Pope and for the Church, not to go to purgatory, but directly go to heaven.”

His cause of canonization was opened in 2013, during the last days of Benedict at the head of Pedro’s throne, before his resignation on February 28.

The “Holy of the door next to Pope Francis

This holy “from the door to the side” especially moved Pope Francis, who during his pontificate presented his life as an example for all young people on numerous occasions.

In fact, in its apostolic exhortation Christ livesHe stressed that Acutis used the digital world “creative and great”, demonstrating that “in all dark and painful situations there is a way out.”

The Argentine Pope recognized in July 2018 a miracle attributed to his intercession: the healing of a child in Brazil who recovered from a serious pancreas disease. Thanks to this, he was beatified in Assisi on October 10, 2020.

The Holy Father assured that Acutis’s testimony showed that “true happiness is putting God first.”

Pope Francis also invited young people to follow his example for Jesus Christ to become “his great friend and companion, today and always.

In May 2024, Pope Francis recognized a second miracle attributed to his intercession, the healing of a 21 -year -old woman from Costa Rica, called Valeria Valverde, who recovered from severe cranial trauma after suffering a bicycle accident in Italy.

After this recognition, Pope Francis scheduled his canonization for this Sunday, April 27. However, after the death of the Holy Father this relevant event for young Catholics around the world, he must still wait.

Will be canonized by the next Pope

With the death of Pope Francis on April 21, Carlo Acutis will also have a link with the future Pope, who will be chosen by the cardinals gathered in Rome during the next conclave, whose date is still to be defined.