Pope Francis announced a new group of Blesseds who are on their way to becoming saints and that includes Carlo Acutis. 


The teenager died in 2006 after a short battle with cancer. His relics came to Erie last May.

At only fifteen years old, he is on his way to becoming the first millennial saint. "As his mother calls him, Carlo was a computer geek and it's kind of fun to see someone that's very relatable to young people today and to adults as well, to see a young man in his polo shirt", explained Director of Communications for the Erie Catholic Diocese, Anne-Marie Welsh.


Acutis died in 2006, a week after being diagnosed with leukemia, and until the end, his faith remained strong.

His relics made their way across 39 dioceses in the United States including Erie, as part of the Eucharist Revitalization in 2023.


"It was such a privilege and I was especially pleased the relics were taken to some of our high schools", said Welsh.


Bishop Perisco believes the young age of Acutis and his relatability could lead more younger people to the church. "He is not a distant person, not someone that lived a hundred or two hundred years ago, but someone that lived today and it wasn't too long ago that he died", said Bishop Perisco.


Following the relics visit to Erie, Acutis' mother spoke at the Eucharist Congress in Philadelphia, where Welsh, alongside two other people got to interview her. As Welsh described, "She was kind and generous and open and you couldn't help but feel the love she has not only for her son, but really what his mission was."


Bishop Perisco hopes Acutis' canonization ignites a fire in the young people of the church. "But it speaks to another generation in the church, a younger generation because when we look at saints, we wither think they are priests, nuns, or somebody that was martyred, but this is someone entirely different."

No date has been set for Acutis' canonization mass, it could be within the next few weeks or months.