From the baptism of London to the first millennial saint

The London -born boy became the first millennial saint, a ceremony pierced in an ancient ritual chaired by Pope Leo on Sunday.

In his short life, Carlo Akutis creates websites that document “miracles” as a means of spreading Catholic teaching, which causes some to call it the influence of God.

His canonization was scheduled in late April, but was postponed after the death of Pope Francis.

It is estimated that more than a million people have worship in the Italian city on Assisi Hill, where Carlo’s body is kept in wax.

But there is another worship site related to Carlo Akutis, which has noted an increase in visitors, as it was announced that it should be made a saint – the Church of the Virgin Mary Down in London.

The font at the back of the Roman Catholic Church in the Chelsea area was where Carlo was named as a baby in 1991.

On the side of the church, an old confession cabin has been turned into a sanctuary to it. It holds a relic holding a strand of Carlo’s hair.

“His family was in finance, and they really worked temporarily in London,” says Father Paul Adison, brothers in the church.

“Although they did not use the church a lot, they decided to come and ask for the child to be baptized. So Carlo was a lightning, a very big flash, in the life of the parish community,” he says.

Carlo was not yet six months old when his parents moved back to his home country in Italy and he spent the rest of his life in Milan.

There he was known for his love of technology and said he was glad to play video games.

While some who knew Carlo Akutis say he does not seem particularly pious, as a teenager he created a website – pages from which they are now framed in the church in Chelsea – in which miracles are documented.

But he died of leukemia at the age of 15.

In the years after his death, Carlo’s mother, Antonia Salzano, visited churches around the world to stand up for him to be a saint.

As part of the process, she had to prove that her son had performed “miracles”.

“The first miracle, he made the day of the funeral,” says Carlo’s mother.

“A woman with breast cancer is praying (for) Carlo and she had to start chemotherapy and the cancer disappeared completely,” she explains.

Pope Francis attributes two wonders to Carlo Akutis and that is why the test was endured and he had to become a saint on April 27.

But Pope Francis died in the previous week.

Some followers who traveled to Rome for canonization, instead found themselves among the tens of thousands of grieving at the funeral of the late Pontiff – Diego Sarkisian, a young Catholic from London, was one of them.

He says he feels a relationship with Carlo Akutis and is excited about his canonization.

“He played on Super Mario Video Games on the old Nintendo consoles and I’ve always loved video games,” says G -n Sarkissian.

“The fact that you can think of a saint who does the same things (like you), wearing jeans, he feels so much more than what other saints have felt in the past,” he says.

Approval to become a saint can take decades or even centuries, but it makes sense that the canonization of the Vatican has quickly followed Carlo Akutis as a means of energizing and inspiring faith in young people.

The Catholic Church will hope the events on Sunday will do just that.