Pope Francis Clears Path for Canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis

Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, met with Pope Francis on Thursday. During the meeting, Pope Francis approved several decrees related to the canonization of various individuals.

One significant decree for young Catholics is the recognition of a miracle attributed to Blessed Carlo Acutis. Carlo, a young layman, was born on May 3, 1991, in London, England, and passed away on October 12, 2006, in Monza, Italy, due to leukemia at the age of 15. Pope Francis beatified Carlo in 2020 in Assisi, where Carlo had made multiple pilgrimages and where his remains are interred.

The miracle recognized involves a woman from Costa Rica. On July 8, 2022, Liliana prayed at Blessed Carlo’s tomb in Assisi, leaving a letter describing her plea. Six days earlier, on July 2, her daughter Valeria had suffered severe head trauma from a bicycle accident in Florence, where she was studying. Valeria required craniotomy surgery and removal of the right occipital bone to reduce brain pressure, with a very low chance of survival according to doctors.

Liliana’s secretary began praying immediately to Blessed Carlo Acutis, and on July 8, Liliana made her pilgrimage to his tomb in Assisi. That same day, the hospital informed her that Valeria had begun to breathe spontaneously. The next day, Valeria started to move and partially regained her speech. By July 18, a CAT scan showed her hemorrhage had disappeared, and on August 11, she was moved to rehabilitation therapy. She made a quick recovery, and on September 2, Valeria and Liliana made another pilgrimage to Assisi to thank Blessed Carlo for his intercession.

In the decree released on Thursday, Pope Francis announced he will convene a Consistory of Cardinals to deliberate the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis, as well as Blessed Giuseppe Allamano, Marie-Léonie Paradis, and Elena Guerra.

The decrees also recognized a miracle attributed to Blessed Giuseppe Allamano (1851–1926), an Italian priest who founded the Consolata Missionaries. The miracle involved the healing of Sorino Yanomami, an indigenous man in Cape Verde, who survived a jaguar attack on February 7, 1996, in the Amazon forest, thanks to surgery and the intercession of Blessed Allamano after members of his congregation prayed a novena.

Pope Francis also recognized a miracle attributed to Venerable Giovanni Merlini (1795–1873), an Italian priest of the Missionaries of the Most Precious Blood. Additionally, he acknowledged the martyrdom of Polish priest Servant of God Stanislav Kostka Streich (1902–1938) and Hungarian laywoman Servant of God Mária Magdolna Bódi (1921–1945), both killed in hatred of the faith by communists.

The decrees further recognized the heroic virtues of several Servants of God: Guglielmo Gattiani (Italian Capuchin priest, 1914–1999), Ismaele Molinero Novillo (Spanish layman, 1917–1938), and Ismaele Molinero Novillo (Italian layman, 1911–1974).

Finally, Pope Francis approved the “favorable votes of the Ordinary Session of the Cardinals and Bishops for the canonization of Blessed Emanuele Ruiz and 7 Companions, of the Order of Friars Minor, and Francesco, Abdel Mooti, and Raffaele Massabki, Lay Faithful, killed in hatred of the Faith in Damascus (Syria) between July 9 and 10, 1860.”