Carlo Acutis, Friend of St. Francis, Canonised Saint on September 7, 2025 by Pope Leo XIV

By Laudato Voices | September 7, 2025

Carlo did not stop at being “God’s influencer.” He profoundly admired St. Francis of Assisi, from whom he learned that to be a saint we need to love. Inspired by him, he chose a simple life, detached from material things, reminding us that true wealth lies in the soul and in living with our hearts set on God.

A Saint for the Digital and Ecological Age

On September 7, 2025, the Universal Church rejoiced as Carlo Acutis was canonised, officially recognized as a saint. At just 15 years old, he had lived a life of deep Eucharistic devotion, technological creativity, and radical simplicity. Carlo Acutis has now become not only a model for the youth but also an inspiration to digital missionaries and beacon of ecological and spiritual consciousness, especially relevant to the African Catholic Church, where the bond between creation and Creator continues to be deeply revered.

Carlo’s spirituality was Franciscan at heart. Grately inspired by St. Francis of Assisi, Carlo embraced a life of humility, poverty, and love for all creatures this is in sync with the message of Laudato Si. He understood, like St. Francis, that “if we have a heart full of love, we will not be able to hold it back, we will share it with the world” (Pope Francis, 2015). He demonstrated this love not only through his digital evangelization, but also spreading the message of love earning him the nickname “God’s influencer”, but also through his deep appreciation for creation and simplicity, values echoed in Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’.

The African Church and Carlo’s Simplicity

In many African communities, particularly among youth and grassroots parishes, Carlo’s message of detachment from materialism and spiritual attentiveness to the poor resonates strongly. His life challenges consumerist mindsets and affirms the African Catholic vision that Ubuntu, “I am because we are”, must extend to all of creation. Something often apprecaited by Laudato Youth and engrained in our motto “United for Climate Action”. – Unity is for us Community and community is the we are.. we believe in working together we can build resilience and ecological conversion.

“Carlo teaches us that holiness is not far from our reach. It is in how we treat others, how we care for the earth, and how we surrender our ambitions to God.”

Carlo’s love for the poor and for the Eucharist was deeply incarnational, and his appreciation for the divine in all things echoes the African theological emphasis on creation as a sacrament (Magesa, 2014). Like many African saints before him, Carlo bore witness that the path to holiness is walked daily, in ordinary acts of love, reverence, and generosity.

Technology with a Soul

In today’s Africa, where mobile phones often reach where roads do not, Carlo’s passion for using technology to evangelize is revolutionary. He created a website cataloging Eucharistic miracles, proving that the digital world can be a sanctuary for holiness. This is so encouraging for us as Laudato Youth who strongly believe in the power of media in evangelization. Our message of faith and care for Gods creation is meant to reach where we have never been or can reach often inviting young people to love God and care for his creation.

“The Eucharist is my highway to heaven,” he once said, a declaration that continues to echo in African parishes where access to the sacraments is so cherished and bearing fruit of what we see as the blooming faith in Accesia in Africa.

We are happy to have received the faith through Baptism, and now becoming a witnesses to Christ that why we see the Church in Africa, full of joy and gratitude for the faith received, must continue her evangelizing mission, to draw the peoples of the continent to the Lord, teaching them to observe what He has commanded. Carlo’s witness however affirms that digital evangelization must be grounded in sacramental life and ecological justice, a key message in the Laudato Youth Initiative, which was launched in 2023 across several regions in Uganda to reach other parts of African and World basically through the media mobilizing young people to revive their faith and care for Gods creation.

Canonisation and Pope Leo XIV’s Message to the Youth

During the Canonisation Mass held at St. Peter’s Square, our mentor brother Adolf was in attendance and he shared the impactful message from Pope Leo XIV, who concluded with a powerful exhortation to the youth:

“Let this be an invitation for all of us, especially young people, not to squander our lives, but direct them upwards and make them masterpieces.”

The Pope highlighted not only Saint Carlo Acutis but also Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, both young, passionate, and deeply spiritual. Saying both lived lives of service and devotion that testify to the possibility of sainthood in modern times.

If you reflect on his message carefully for us as Laudato Youth it feels like Pope Leo tied this vision to the Laudato Youth Initiative, inviting young Africans to take leadership in turning their faith into action, while focusing on real societal issues like working to spread the messsage of Hope, Faith and Peace, then transform faith into action and tackle issues like climate change and social justice of which the media can be instrumental in amplifying the above message.

“Young people in Africa and beyond, Carlo’s life tells you this: You can be holy. You can be a digital missionary, a lover of the poor, a steward of creation. Your life matters, and it can become a masterpiece.”

A Saint for Our Time

Saint Carlo Acutis’ canonisation is more than a celebration; it is a call to action. To Laudato youth, he is a mirror showing that holiness is not about retreating from the world, but transforming it. With a laptop in hand and a heart anchored in the Eucharist, Carlo reminds us that technology, when consecrated, becomes a vessel of grace, and that creation, when honored, becomes a liturgy of praise.

In the footsteps of St. Francis, Carlo reminds us that simplicity, reverence, and love are not outdated, they are the very paths to sanctity in our complex world.