VATICAN CITY — For Francois and Fanny, a Catholic couple from Montreal, their first time on a pilgrimage to Rome has been deeply meaningful.

“We are devout Catholics, and it feels great to be here,” Francois said as they sat under the imposing colonnade in St. Peter’s Square, waiting for their group to enter the 16th-century basilica. They had come for the prayer vigil of the Jubilee of Consolation, a three-day gathering dedicated to those who have faced loss and hardship.

Before reaching Rome, the group stopped in Assisi, the birthplace of St. Francis, located approximately 130 kilometers northeast of the Italian capital. There, they prayed at the sanctuary of the Church’s newest saint, Carlo Acutis.

The Catholic Church has declared 2025 a Jubilee Year, drawing millions of pilgrims to Rome for special celebrations. Among them was the canonization of Acutis, a 15-year-old Italian who died of leukemia in 2006 and has since been hailed as the first “millennial saint” and the “cyber-apostle.”

Part of an effort to reinforce the Christian message among the new generations, Acutis’s canonization attracted an estimated 60,000 worshipers to St. Peter’s Square on September 7, many of them youths. His body and heart are now permanently enshrined at the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Assisi.

“We saw his body and prayed in the place where he is resting,” Francois said.

“Right out of the womb of his mother, he was inspired by the Holy Spirit,” Fanny echoed. “One of the big problems of our society is that the youth no longer believe in any religion, God, or Jesus Christ.”

“We hope that he becomes an inspiration for the younger generations,” Francois added, noting that they prayed that all of their children and grandchildren, some of whom are less devout than they are, return to faith.

Yet Acutis’s canonization has also stirred criticism, with some noting that the Church has not addressed the antisemitic roots of certain “Eucharistic miracles” Acutis helped promote by creating accessible online databases.

A central Christian rite, the Eucharist consists of a memorial action in which worshipers partake of special bread and wine, representing Jesus’ flesh and blood.

Before his death, Acutis compiled accounts describing consecrated wafers said to bleed or turn into flesh — sometimes after being allegedly desecrated. In several of........

© The Times of Israel