"The First Millennial Saint"
The above title is one of the names by which Carlo Acutis is known; others include "God's Influencer" and "the patron saint of the Internet." What's newsworthy about the teenager? On Sunday, September 7th, he was canonized by the newly-elected pope (Leo XIV) in St. Peter's Square outside the Vatican. Do we have anything personally against the young man? Certainly not; he seems to be a very decent lad. At least one of his sayings is noteworthy: "All of us are born originals, but so many of us end up as photocopies." He was known to be generous, and he tried to spread via the Internet the Catholic doctrine that he had been taught. At the age of 15, he fell ill and died ten days later of acute promyelocytic leukemia, according to an article by Keir Simmons, posted on September 6th. He died in 2006.
In order to be a candidate for sainthood, one must have done two miracles, which must be authenticated. The reader is probably wondering how valid these are, and the answer is, "Not very." Judge for yourself. Acutis is credited with healing a seven-year-old boy from Brazil of "a rare pancreatic disorder." No particulars are given by doctors or health-care professionals. In fact, Carlo never even met the youth. He was allegedly healed after "coming into contact with one of Carlo's T-shirts" in 2013—seven years after Carlo's death! Really? So, Carlo did not ever meet or speak to the boy. This is rather bizarre. And the second "healing" is just like it, since it occurred in 2022, according to the Internet. What happened in this instance? A young woman from Costa Rica was in a near-fatal bicycle accident. Her mother prayed at Carlo's tomb, and she recovered. The article does not say if the recovery was instantaneous. So, both of Carlo's "miracles" occurred after he died.
People will likely respond in a positive fashion to this story, but the problem is that many of the concepts cannot be found in the Bible. For example, the Scriptures do not mention the office of pope; Peter is not called one. And, in fact, he would not have made a good pope because he was married (Matt. 8:14-15; 1 Cor. 9:5). He also refused to be worshiped; on one occasion, when Cornelius fell down to worship him, he lifted him up and told him, "Stand up; I myself am also a man" (Acts 10:26). Without a pope, there is no Vatican and no such thing as canonization.
"Doesn't the New Testament speak of saints?" one might wonder. The answer is, "Yes, but they are usually alive—not dead" (Acts 9:13, 32, 41; Rom. 1:7:16:15; 1 Cor. 1:2; 16:1, 15; Eph. 1:1, Phil. 1:1; et al.). If saints does refer to those who have died, they are just faithful followers of God—not people who have been "canonized." Furthermore, the spiritual gifts ended in the first century, as God had promised (1 Cor. 13:1-13). All would profit to study the New Testament rather than traditions.