Italian teen set to be first millennial saint was 'ordinary child', says mother

By Joshua McElwee

ASSISI, Italy (Reuters) - Carlo Acutis, a British-born Italian boy who built websites to spread his faith, will be proclaimed the Catholic Church's first saint of the millennial generation this month, elevating him to the same level as Mother Teresa and Francis of Assisi.

There is no doubt he was special, his mother Antonia Salzano Acutis told Reuters. But in many ways, she said, he was like any other teen.

Acutis, who learned several computer coding languages and developed websites for his parish and the wider Church, died from leukaemia aged 15 in 2006.

As his reputation for devotion grew and he was moved along the official path to sainthood, his body was moved to the hill town of Assisi in central Italy, in line with his last wishes.

There, he was entombed with a wax mould of his likeness placed over his body, wearing his track top, jeans and trainers. Ever since, crowds have been gathering at the clear-sided casket.

Tens of thousands more are expected to attend the canonization service in St. Peter's Square on April 27. Vatican officials hope Pope Francis, who is still recovering from a serious bout of double pneumonia, will preside.

But, away from all the ceremony and veneration, the heart of his appeal was that he lived the same life as others who were teenagers in the 2000s, struggling to fit in at school, his mother said.

"Carlo was an ordinary child like (others). He used to play, to have friends, and to go to school. But his extraordinary quality was the fact that he opened the door of his heart to Jesus and put Jesus in the first place in his life."

"He used this skill to spread the good news, the Gospel," she added. "He wanted to help people to have more faith, to understand that there is an afterlife, that we are (pilgrims) in this world."

She said her son was committed to helping people in need. He asked his parents to donate to the poor.

"He was very severe with himself ... If I wanted to buy two pairs of shoes, he said, no, one is sufficient."

MIRACLES, PRAYERS

Acutis' reputation grew further with the recording of miracles reported after his death and attributed to his intercession with God.

Church officials say there was the healing of a 4-year-old Brazilian boy with a serious pancreatic malformation and of a 21-year-old Costa Rican woman who was near death after a bicycle accident.

The mothers of the boy and the woman had both prayed to Acutis for help, Vatican authorities said.

"The world is (showing) great interest for this young man," said Bishop Domenico Sorrentino, who leads the Catholic diocese of Assisi. "I think that's starting from his smile."

"When we are really convinced that we are saved (by) Jesus, we must be joyful, must be happy," Sorrentino told Reuters. "Acutis succeeds in giving ... young people this image of the true Christian image."

Purported relics of Acutis - described as parts of his clothes and even his body - have started cropping up online, some of them for sale on auction sites including eBay.

Sorrentino denounced the sales as "horrible", and said he has asked police to confiscate the listed items.

Catholics use such relics as aides in prayer. Their sale is forbidden by the Church.

In Assisi, young believers said they had come to see Acutis for themselves, looking for inspiration and an example.

"I felt great emotion at seeing a boy younger than me who lived a happy life ... despite his sickness," said Emanuele Iaquaniello, an 18-year-old from Frosinone, a town southeast of Rome.

"He was surely an example and a symbol of strength for all people, not just teens."

Lorenzo Dalia, also 18 and from Monte San Giovanni Campano, said he was moved to see the tomb of a fellow teenager who will become a saint. "I was left dumbfounded seeing such great faith at this age," he said.

(Reporting by Joshua McElwee; Editing by Andrew Heavens)