Teenager named first millennial saint

Tens of thousands of people gathered at the Vatican on Sunday for the canonisation of an Italian teenager dubbed "God's Influencer" for his efforts to spread the Catholic faith online.

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday officially proclaimed Carlo Acutis, who died of leukaemia in 2006 at the age of 15, the Church's first millennial saint, to applause from the crowds in St Peter's Square.

Pilgrims stretched across the square in front of St Peter's Basilica, many of them young people holding up flags from different countries or images of the so-called "cyber-apostle".

"Carlo Acutis is an example for me because he was able to combine his everyday life - school, football and his passion for IT and computers with an unshakeable faith," said Filippo Bellaviti, 17.

Around 800 people had arrived on a special train from Assisi, where Acutis' body, dressed in jeans and a pair of Nike takkies, lies in a glass-walled tomb.

The mass was also being watched by faithful on giant screens in Assisi, a medieval city and pilgrimage site as the home of Saint Francis, the patron saint of animals.

Italian Pier Giorgio Frassati, a mountaineering enthusiast who died of polio aged 24 in 1925 and was known for his social and spiritual commitment, was also made a saint on Sunday.

Acutis's mother, Antonia Salzano, said that her son would thank all those coming to mark his elevation to sainthood.