Pope Francis approves move to recognise London-born boy known as 'God's influencer' who died of leukaemia aged 15

A London-born boy who was born in 1991 and died at the age of 15 from leukaemia is set to be the Catholic Church's first ever millennial saint.

Carlo Acutis, who died of leukaemia in 2006 aged 15 and was informally known as 'God's influencer', was on Thursday approved to become a saint by Pope Francis, the Vatican said.

Born in London to an Italian mother and a half-English, half-Italian father who was working in the UK as a merchant banker, he grew up in Milan where he took care of his parish website and later of a Vatican-based academy.

There, his mother Antonia Salzano told the Times, Acutis would offer support to his classmates who were going through troubles, would defend disabled peers who were being bullied and would take meals out to homeless people across the city.

When he died shortly after being diagnosed with leukaemia, he told his parents: 'I'm happy to die because I've lived my life without wasting even a minute of it doing things that wouldn't have pleased God.'

Catholics are encouraged to pray to deceased people who they believe are in heaven.

Carlo Acutis, who died of leukaemia in 2006 aged 15 and was informally known as 'God's influencer'

Born in London to an Italian mother and a half-English, half-Italian father who was working in the UK as a merchant banker, he grew up in Milan where he took care of his parish website and later of a Vatican-based academy

If the person they pray to answers them with a miracle, which in Catholicism is considered any sign that can only be attributed to divine power, then they can be beatified, the first step in the process of becoming a saint.

Beatification gives the person the title 'Blessed'. Other beatified people include Mother Theresa and Pope John Paul II.

Acutis' beatification was announced in 2020 after the Vatican ruled he had miraculously saved another boy's life.

The Vatican claimed he interceded from heaven in 2013 to cure a Brazilian boy suffering from a rare pancreatic disease. Acutis was beatified in Assisi, the home of his idol Saint Francis, who dedicated his life to the care of the poor.

A second miracle, which if confirmed, allows a deceased person to become a saint, if approved by the Pope.

Acutis' second miracle came in 2022, after a 21-year-old Costa Rican girl recovered from a severe brain injury after a bicycle accident in Florence.

The woman, Valeria Valverde, underwent an emergency craniomoty to reduce pressure on her brain. Her family were told she was in a critical condition, and her mother went to Assisi to pray at Acutis' tomb.

That same day, the church claimed, the woman managed to breathe without aide, and then managed to speak again and use her upper limbs.

As well as being committed to his faith, Carlo also helped the homeless and stood up for bullied classmates at school. Pictured: Young Carlo with his dog at Christmas

Carlo (pictured) would be only the second Briton to become canonised in nearly 50 years, after Cardinal John Henry Newman was made a Saint last year

Carlo was a devout Christian (pictured) when he was alive and attended daily mass. Before he died, he set up a website where he researched and documented miracles attributed with the Eucharist

Scans showed the contusion on her brain had disappeared, and she was discharged from intensive care ten days later.

Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino of Assisi said of the news: 'The Church in Assisi is in celebration. I plan to arrive in Assisi this evening to thank the Lord in a Eucharistic celebration. But as of now I join the faithful who are in the shrine for a prayer of praise.'