Carlo Acutis is no longer on the road to sainthood: Pope Leo XIV canonized him on 7 September 2025. He died at 15, but the Church’s account of his life joins familiar teenage interests, including video games, with daily Catholic practice, service to others and his use of computer skills for religious projects. The official sources cited here confirm that he enjoyed video games generally; they do not establish that he played Pokémon or used a PlayStation 2.
Who was Carlo Acutis?
Carlo Acutis was born in London on 3 May 1991 to Italian parents. His family moved to Milan later that year. He attended Istituto Leone XIII, a classical high school in Milan, and died on 12 October 2006, aged 15 years and five months, after an illness. He was first buried in Ternengo and later moved to Assisi, where his body is kept at the Shrine of the Spoliation, according to the Vatican’s biography for his canonization.
What is documented about his interests and faith?
Video games and everyday life
The Carlo Acutis Foundation says he enjoyed video games, played soccer, volunteered and helped other children. That supports describing him as a young person with ordinary recreational interests, but the Foundation’s account does not identify Pokémon or the PlayStation 2. Those specific details should not be treated as verified biographical facts on the evidence available here.
Religious practice and service
The Vatican says Acutis received First Communion at seven and attended Mass daily. When school prevented him from attending, he made a spiritual communion. He also served as a parish catechist. Pope Leo XIV’s canonization homily describes Carlo as encountering Jesus in his family, at school and above all in the sacraments celebrated in his parish community. The homily also attributes to Carlo the line: “In front of the sun, you get a tan. In front of the Eucharist, you become a saint!”
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His religious commitments are central to the Church’s account of his life; video games are one part of the picture, not an explanation for his sainthood. The Vatican biography attributes to him another concise expression of his Eucharistic devotion: “The Eucharist is my highway to heaven.”
How did he use computers?
Acutis learned to design web pages while helping with a parish website. In summer 2006, he designed a website for a school volunteer project and worked on a page for the Pontifical Academy Cultorum Martyrum. The Foundation describes his internet use as apostolic work.
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- My Son Carlo: Carlo Acutis Through the Eyes of His Mother
He is also associated with an exhibition about Eucharistic miracles. The Vatican’s account of the cause for canonization and the Foundation’s biography place this work within his religious activity. It offers a more firmly documented reason for the popular link between Acutis and digital evangelization than any unverified claim about a particular game console.
Why is he called the “Influencer of God”?
“Influencer of God” is a media-style description of Acutis’s use of digital tools to share his faith, not a phrase the sources cited here establish that he coined. The Foundation attributes to him the saying, “Everyone is born as an original, but many die as a photocopy”. On its page, Pope Francis is quoted as saying: “The digital world can expose you to the risk of self-absorption and isolation. But there are young people even there who show creativity and even genius. Like Carlo”.
When was Carlo Acutis canonized?
Pope Leo XIV canonized Carlo Acutis on 7 September 2025 at St. Peter’s Basilica, alongside Pier Giorgio Frassati. The Foundation says the two were inscribed in the Register of Saints. Acutis should therefore be described today as Saint Carlo Acutis; “Blessed Carlo Acutis” refers to his status before canonization or appears in historical titles.
The Church’s recognition of his sainthood followed several formal milestones. The Vatican says his heroic virtues were recognized in 2018. He was beatified in Assisi on 10 October 2020 after the Church recognized a first miracle attributed to his intercession. A second miracle associated with Florence was approved in 2022 before his canonization. These are claims within the Catholic Church’s process and religious interpretation, not independent scientific findings of causation.
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What his story does—and does not—show
Official accounts present Acutis as a teenager whose digital abilities served parish, school and religious projects, alongside a life shaped by Mass, the sacraments, catechism and helping others. His age and interests may make the story accessible to younger readers, but the canonization record centers his faith and service. The available sources support a general interest in video games; they do not verify the headline’s specific Pokémon or PlayStation 2 references.
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