As the Catholic Church celebrates its first millennial saint, Carlo Acutis stands as a beacon of hope, reminding the faithful to live with confidence in God’s purpose and to seek holiness in the ordinary moments of life.
Newsroom (09/09/2025, Gaudium Press ) In a moment of profound spiritual significance, the Catholic Church canonized its first millennial saint, Carlo Acutis, during a vibrant Mass attended by 80,000 faithful in St. Peter’s Square. The emotional pinnacle of the ceremony was the radiant expression of Antonia Salzano, Carlo’s mother, whose tearful joy spoke volumes as her son was officially declared a saint by Pope Leo XIV.
The canonization Mass centered on a miracle that underscored Carlo’s intercessory power. Valeria Vargas Valverde, a 24-year-old from Costa Rica, stood as a living testament to divine grace. In 2022, Valeria suffered a near-fatal bicycle accident in Florence, Italy, where she was studying. Her mother, Liliana, in an act of desperate faith, prayed at then-Blessed Carlo’s tomb in Assisi, leaving a heartfelt plea for her daughter’s recovery. Against medical odds, Valeria’s condition improved dramatically, a recovery doctors deemed inexplicable, paving the way for Carlo’s sainthood.
A Mother’s Grief Transformed by Faith
“Carlo’s death was an extraordinary loss for Antonia. Like any mother, she deeply grieved his passing,” said Father Patrick Briscoe, newly appointed head of communications for the Dominican order, in an interview with OSV News. Yet, it was Carlo’s life and witness that rekindled Antonia’s faith. “Carlo brought Antonia back into the practice of her Catholic faith,” Father Briscoe noted, reflecting on the young saint’s influence.
During the Mass, Pope Leo XIV highlighted Carlo’s spiritual foundation: “He encountered Jesus in his family, thanks to his parents … and then at school, and above all in the sacraments celebrated in the parish community.” The pope described how Carlo seamlessly wove prayer, sports, study, and charity into his daily life, embodying a holistic Christian witness.
Antonia Salzano, joined by her husband, Andrea, and Carlo’s twin siblings, Francesca and Michele, born four years after his death, was visibly moved as the pope spoke. She has often shared how Carlo, even as a child, yearned to attend daily Mass, drawing her into a deeper faith. “He saved me,” she has said repeatedly, crediting her son’s devotion with her spiritual renewal.
A Life Dedicated to God
At a Sept. 5 screening of the documentary Roadmap to Reality at the North American College in Rome, directed by Tim Moriarty and produced by Jim Wahlberg, Antonia reflected on Carlo’s profound understanding of faith. “Without Jesus, we cannot do anything — and Carlo understood this,” she said. From the age of seven, when he received his First Holy Communion, Carlo declared, “To be united with God: this is my life program.” He remained faithful to this promise until his death at 15 from leukemia in 2006.
When Pope Francis approved a second miracle attributed to Carlo in 2024, Antonia expressed her joy to OSV News: “It was great news because we were waiting for this declaration — especially for all the devotees he has around the world.” This miracle involved the healing of a young girl, further solidifying Carlo’s path to sainthood.
A Miracle in Assisi
Valeria Valverde’s presence at the canonization Mass was a powerful witness to God’s mercy. On July 2, 2022, Valeria suffered a catastrophic head injury in a bicycle accident, requiring a craniotomy and the removal of her right occipital bone to relieve brain pressure. Her prognosis was grim. Yet, on July 8, Liliana, her mother, knelt in prayer at Carlo’s tomb in Assisi, leaving a letter pleading for his intercession.
“Valeria’s mother prayed with sincere faith,” Father Briscoe explained. “Her prayer wasn’t intricate or informed by complex theology. She was simply praying with the heart of a mother.” That same day, Valeria began breathing spontaneously. By the next day, she regained movement and partial speech. A CAT scan ten days later revealed the hemorrhage had vanished, and by August 11, Valeria was in rehabilitation. On September 2, 2022, she joined her mother in Assisi to give thanks for Carlo’s intercession.
At the Mass, Valeria, dressed simply in black with her hair in a modest bun, read the first universal prayer in Spanish, her presence a testament to answered prayers. “Part of the joy of the canonization Mass was the proximity of those who witnessed these miracles,” Father Briscoe said. “Valeria was the sign of a mother’s answered prayer.”
A Saint for the Digital Age
Antonia Salzano emphasized Carlo’s relevance for today’s youth, who face myriad challenges. “We are not made to be people in this universe of chaos without a goal. God created us for a goal, and that goal is paradise,” she told OSV News. Carlo’s life, marked by simplicity and devotion, offers a countercultural message in an era dominated by self-interest.
Father Briscoe, who concelebrated the Mass and holds a personal devotion to St. Carlo, reflected on his enduring legacy: “To a world now marked by selfies and self-interest, Carlo Acutis proposes an alternative. ‘Not me, but God,’ Carlo often said. His witness and the testimony of these answered prayers point us beyond ourselves to a God who offers new horizons of joy.”
As the Catholic Church celebrates its first millennial saint, Carlo Acutis stands as a beacon of hope, reminding the faithful — young and old — to live with confidence in God’s purpose and to seek holiness in the ordinary moments of life.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from OSV News
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