When Pope Francis kick-started the process to name an Italian teenager the church’s first millennial saint late last month, Catholics the world over rejoiced. But the announcement was particularly special to Catholics in Chicago, who had already embraced the teenager, Carlo Acutis, as an inspiration for younger parishioners at a time of and . News of his impending canonization was “just beautiful to hear,” said Stephanie Rubio, a 21-year-old who attends Mother of the Americas Church in Little Village.
She learned about Acutis in college and was moved by his positive attitude in the face of physical suffering. “He was just very humble and simple,” Rubio said. “Someone like that, there’s something for me too as well .
.. His story is inspiring.
” Acutis, who died in 2006 from leukemia at age 15, devoted his life to spreading God’s word on the internet, earning the nickname “God’s influencer” from his mother. The web programmer’s specialty was cataloging miracles in a user-friendly way to make them accessible to younger Catholics. Stephanie Rubio, a volunteer and parishioner at the Mother of the Americas Catholic Church who said she was “inspired” by the news of Carlo Acutis possibly becoming the first “millennial saint,” clutches her rosary while sitting for a portrait outside the Mother of the Americas Catholic Church, Friday, May 31, 2024.
| Pat Nabong/Sun-Times Pat Nabong/Sun-Times His fame has spread as more miracles are attributed to him. Fr.
