MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

The first millennial and “God's influencer” to be canonized by Pope Francis

London born Carlo Acutis had been beatified - the first step towards sainthood - in 2020, after he was attributed with his first miracle

BBC is reporting that a London-born teenager - whose proficiency at spreading the teachings of the Catholic church online led to him being called “God's influencer” - is set to become a saint. Carlo Acutis died in 2006, at the age of 15, meaning he would be the first millennial - a person born in the early 1980s to late 1990s - to be canonized.

It follows Pope Francis attributing a second miracle to him. It involved the healing of university student in Florence who had bleeding on the brain after suffering head trauma.

Carlo Acutis had been beatified - the first step towards sainthood - in 2020, after he was attributed with his first miracle - healing a Brazilian child of a congenital disease affecting his pancreas.

Carlo Acutis died in Monza, in Italy, after being diagnosed with leukemia, having spent much of his childhood in the country. His body was moved to Assisi a year after his death, and it currently resides on full display alongside other relics linked to him.

As well as designing websites for his parish and school, he became known for launching a website seeking to document every reported Eucharistic miracle, which was launched days before his death.

Mr Acutis' nickname, God's influencer, has been attributed to him after his death due to this work. His website has now been translated into several different languages, and used as the basis for an exhibition which has travelled around the world.

His life is also remembered in the UK, where in 2020, the Archbishop of Birmingham established the Parish of Blessed Carlo Acutis incorporating churches in Wolverhampton and Wombourne.