Canonization of Millennial Saint Inspires Loyola Catholics

Pope Leo XIV declared the first millennial saint, Carlo Acutis, in an outdoor Mass in St. Peter’s Square Sept. 7, drawing Loyola students from the John Felice Rome Center to watch the canonization in Vatican City.

Born in London but raised in Italy, Acutis — who created a multilingual website to document Eucharistic miracles — died in 2006 of leukemia and earned the nickname “God’s Influencer.” Acutis’ canonization has made an impact on Loyola’s Catholic community, the Associated Press reported.

Third-year English major Kamila Chavez and second-year classical civilizations major Sarah Lohmeier, students at Loyola’s JFRC, lined up before the sun rose over the Vatican for the canonization Mass. They joined onlookers from around the world to witness Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati, a young Third Order Dominican who died in 1925, be declared saints.

“It was amazing being surrounded by so many Catholics in St. Peter’s Square,” Lohmeier said. “It was insane how many people showed up and what a lively crowd it was.”

Attending the canonization was especially meaningful to Lohmeier and Chavez because of the personal connection they feel to Acutis as young people of faith. 

“He made sainthood seem possible, but more than that, he made it seem necessary,” Chavez said. “The world needs saints, and I think Carlo is a testament to the fact that we need more young saints.”

The enthusiasm around the canonization isn’t limited to Loyola’s Rome campus. Members of the Loyola community in Chicago have also been reflecting on Acutis’ life and example.

Second-year healthcare administration major Katie Lally is one of the leaders of Cookie CLC, a Christian Life Community group which focuses on reflection and community bonding. She said she finds Acutis’ story as a teenager in the 21st century inspiring. To her, Acutis has made it easier to view her faith through a more modern lens.

Another student drawn to the recency of Acutis’ life is fourth-year advertising and public relations major Emily Henseler, who also serves as the marketing chair for AMDG, Loyola’s Catholic student group that works to cultivate a Catholic presence on campus.

“I feel like Carlo being canonized is so inspiring for the youth of today,” Henseler said. “He’s someone tangible and relatable that you can look up to. Someone who wore Levi jeans, went to school, and had a computer is being recognized as one of the closest friends of Christ in heaven.”

Brother Bobby Nichols, S.J., a member of Loyola’s campus ministry team, shares Henseler’s amazement over such a youthful, relatable figure joining the ranks of Catholic saints.  He said Acutis owned a PlayStation, something he remembers having himself growing up, and lived a very typical lifestyle for a teenager of his generation. 

“I’ve just been kind of fascinated with his story as a young person,” Nichols, 35, said. “He would be a year younger than me. It’s weird to think that somebody my age could be a saint. If I grew up in Italy or if he grew up in Kentucky, we could have been friends.”

Nichols said Acutis’ example is especially applicable in the digital age, explaining the new saint has motivated him to consider the way he will interact with the internet in the future. Acutis is a model of how to engage the world online, Nichols said.

“Carlo wrote that ‘People are so concerned with the beauty of their bodies and do not care about the beauty of their souls,’” Nichols said. “I find that tragically true. We care more about the beauty of our Instagram feeds than the beauty of our prayer lives. Carlo is a reminder that there’s something bigger out there.”

Henseler said she feels similarly about the relevance of Acutis’ example in an increasingly online world. She especially resonated with the way he used media to help bring people closer to Christ, something she hopes to work toward both personally and through her role as marketing chair of AMDG. 

“I draw inspiration from the way that he used the internet to glorify God,” Henseler said. “While I’m not building websites to share Eucharistic miracles, I am using social media to help draw people closer to Christ through our organization and through ways to find Christ on campus here at Loyola.”

Adjunct theology professor at the JFRC Dr. Rebecca Pawloski said the atmosphere was overwhelmingly enthusiastic and festive the weekend of Sept. 7 as Catholics celebrated the canonization of Acutis and Frassati.

She said she also finds it important to highlight young women whose causes for canonization haven’t been as swift as Acutis’, including Antonietta Meo, an Italian girl known for writing letters to Jesus, and Ellen Organ, an Irish four-year-old whose story inspired Pope Pius X to allow younger children to receive Holy Communion.

Still, she said the canonization is deeply significant to young people and to the Church as a whole.

“It reminds us that the Church is dynamic and evolving, that there is room for something new, and that the Church is looking for young people to interpret their own moment and do what that moment calls for,” Pawloski said.