A tech-savvy Italian schoolboy who died in 2006 is to become the first saint from the millennial generation in the Catholic Church on Sunday.

Carlo Acutis has been dubbed “God’s influencer” and the “saint in sneakers.” The curly-haired Italian youngster died from leukemia aged 15 but is still celebrated by Catholics for how he put his web skills to use to promote his faith.

Having begun coding at the age of eight, Acutis used his programming skills to build websites for the Church, including a site listing all reported miracles.

As the Church struggles to connect with young people, Acutis represents a relatable role model, an example of how to evangelize in the digital age.

The Church is increasingly recognizing the power of influencers who speak the language of Gen Z on video-sharing platforms like TikTok, and who can counter the Church’s perception of being outdated. Last month the Vatican hosted an event for 1,000 digital missionaries and Catholic influencers as part of its Holy Year celebrations.

Catholics influencers have also been credited with a recent surge in young adult and teenage baptisms in countries including France.

Initially scheduled for April 27, Acutis’ canonization at the Vatican was postponed when Pope Francis died. Pope Leo XIV is set to lead the mass and canonization in St. Peter’s Square, along with that of another young person, Pier Giorgio Frassati. 

Critics have claimed that Acutis’ popularity, which has generated a multitude of books and documentaries about his life, is the result of a marketing campaign from the Church made possible by his family’s wealth and connections.

But the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints said Acutis is part of a group of younger people that have been or are to be recognised by the church as evangelists. “Acutis’ canonization, strongly desired by Pope Francis, is not intended to acclaim him as a theologian. … It is intended to demonstrate that even today young Christians can live the Gospel faith in a consistent and all-encompassing way and have a relationship with Christ,” the dicastery wrote.

Acutis’ death preceded the rise of social media like Facebook, Instagram and others. But, unlike most other saints, his followers can still watch videos of him talking about his faith.

Acutis was moved to the city of Assisi in Umbria in 2017, where his tomb lies. Fittingly, he can be seen through its glass-sided casket on a web camera 24 hours a day, his body dressed in jeans, Nike sneakers and a sweatshirt. More pilgrims come to Assisi to visit Acutis’ tomb than that of St. Francis, buried in the same city, according to the local church.

The Church’s newest saint “was well aware that the whole apparatus of communications, advertising and social networking can be used to lull us, to make us addicted to consumerism,” Pope Francis wrote in a 2019 apostolic exhortation, a document on papal teaching. “Yet he knew how to use new technology to transmit the Gospel.”