Pope Leo XIV is set to declare a 15-year-old computer whiz, Carlo Acutis, the first millennial saint on Sunday, giving the next generation of Catholics a relatable, modern-day role model who used technology to spread the faith and earn the nickname “God’s influencer.”

A tapestry with a portrait of Blessed Carlo Acutis, who will be canonized on Sunday, hangs on the facade of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025, as two Carabinieri officers patrol in St. Peter's Square. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV was set to declare a 15-year-old computer whiz, Carlo Acutis, the first millennial saint on Sunday, giving the next generation of Catholics a relatable role model who used technology to spread the faith and earn the nickname “God’s influencer.”

An open-air Mass in St. Peter’s Square, the first saint-making ceremony of Leo's pontificate, was expected to draw hundreds of thousands of people and was also set to canonize another popular Italian figure who died young, Pier Giorgio Frassati.

Both ceremonies were scheduled for earlier this year, but were postponed following Pope Francis’ death in April. Francis had fervently pushed the Acutis sainthood case forward, convinced that the church needed someone like him to attract young Catholics to the faith while addressing the promises and perils of the digital age.

Like Francis before him, Leo has expressed concern about the risks of technology, particularly artificial intelligence, and about online relationships replacing human ones.

Acutis was born on May 3, 1991, in London to a wealthy but not particularly observant Catholic family. They moved back to Milan soon after he was born and he enjoyed a typical, happy childhood, albeit marked by increasingly intense religious devotion.

Acutis was particularly interested in computer science and devoured college-level books on programming even as a youngster. He earned the nickname “God’s Influencer,” thanks to his main tech legacy: a multilingual website documenting so-called Eucharistic miracles recognized by the church, a project he completed at a time when the development of such sites was the domain of professionals.

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Pope Leo XIV waves to faithful holding a picture of Blessed Carlo Acutis, who will be canonized Sunday, as he arrives in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican for an open-air jubiliar audience Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Acutis was known to spend hours in prayer before the Eucharist each day. The Catholic hierarchy has been trying to promote the practice of Eucharistic adoration because, according to polls, most Catholics don’t believe Christ is physically present in the Eucharistic hosts.

In October 2006, at age 15, Acutis fell ill with what was quickly diagnosed as acute leukemia. Within days, he was dead. He was entombed in Assisi, which known for its association with another popular saint, St. Francis.

In the years since his death, young Catholics have flocked by the millions to Assisi, where they can see the young Acutis through a glass-sided tomb, dressed in jeans, Nike sneakers and a sweatshirt.

Acutis has proven enormously popular with young Catholics, who see in him a relatable, modern day role model.

“It’s like I can maybe not be as great as Carlo may be, but I can be looking after him and be like, ‘What would Carlo do?’" said Leo Kowalsky, an 8th grader at a Chicago school attached to the Blessed Carlo Acutis Parish.

Kowalsky said he was particularly excited that his own namesake — Pope Leo — would be canonizing the patron of his school. “It’s kind of all mashed up into one thing, so it is a joy to be a part of,” Kowalsky said in an interview last week.

Frassati, the other saint being canonized Sunday, lived from 1901-1925, when he died at age 24 of polio. He was born into a prominent Turin family but is known for his devotion to serving the poor and carrying out acts of charity while spreading his faith to his friends.

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AP visual journalist Jessie Wardarski contributed from Chicago.

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Pope Leo XIV is greeted by Bishops in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican during an open-air jubiliar audience Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, a day ahead of the canonization of Carlo Acutis who's portrait is hanging at top right. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

From left, the mother of Blessed Carlo Acutis, Antonia, her children Michele and Francesca and her husband Andrea attend the screening of the film 'Carlo Acutis, roadmap to reality' at Rome's Pontifical North American College, Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

FILE - The body of Carlo Acutis, an Italian boy who died in 2006 of leukemia, lies in his tomb in Assisi, Italy, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)