Pope declares teen computer whiz a saint

VATICAN CITY (AP):

Pope Leo XIV declared a 15-year-old computer whiz the Catholic Church's first millennial saint yesterday, giving the next generation of Catholics a relatable role model who used technology to spread the faith and earn the nickname "God's influencer."

Leo canonised Carlo Acutis, who died in 2006, during an open-air Mass in St Peter's Square before an estimated 80,000 people, many of them millennials and couples with young children. During the first saint-making Mass of his pontificate, Leo also canonised another popular Italian figure who died young, Pier Giorgio Frassati.

Leo said both men created "masterpieces" out of their lives by dedicating them to God.

"The greatest risk in life is to waste it outside of God's plan," Leo said in his homily. The new saints "are an invitation to all of us, especially young people, not to squander our lives, but to direct them upwards and make them masterpieces."

Acutis was particularly interested in computer science and devoured college-level books on programming even as a youngster. He earned the nickname "God's Influencer," thanks to his main tech legacy: a multilingual website documenting so-called Eucharistic miracles recognised by the church, a project he completed at a time when the development of such sites was the domain of professionals.

He was known to spend hours in prayer before the Eucharist each day.

In October 2006, at age 15, Acutis fell ill with what was quickly diagnosed as acute leukaemia. Within days, he was dead. He was entombed in Assisi, which known for its association with another popular saint, St Francis.