A teenager who died of leukaemia at age 15 is to become the Catholic church's first-ever millennial saint.
Carlo Acutis, born in 1991, was a computer prodigy who helped spread Roman Catholic teachings online until his death in 2006.
Pope Francis decreed on Thursday that a second posthumous miracle has been attributed to Acutis, which qualifies him for canonisation.
Acutis' parents told an Italian newspaper that from age three, their son would ask to visit churches in Milan and would donate his pocket money to poor people in the city.
His mother said Acutis would offer support to classmates whose parents were divorcing, would defend disabled peers when they were bullied and would take meals and sleeping bags to homeless people in Milan.
Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino of Assisi said: "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."
In Catholicism people can pray to deceased people who they believe to be in heaven to request they speak to God on their behalf, such as asking for a person to recover from an illness or injury.
If the person in question then appears to undergo an unexpected recovery it can be classed as a miracle by the Vatican. If two miracles are attributed to a deceased person and approved by the pope, then they qualify for sainthood.
Acutis was put on the path towards sainthood after Pope Francis approved a miracle attributed to him. A seven-year-old Brazilian boy recovered from a rare pancreatic disorder after coming into contact with one of Acutis' T-shirts. A priest also prayed to Acutis on behalf of the child.
The second miracle allegedly occurred when a Costa Rican woman recovered from a serious bike accident in Italy in 2022.
Valeria Valverde, 21, underwent an emergency craniotomy to reduce pressure on her brain and her family was told she was in a critical condition, it was reported.
Her mother went to pray for her daughter's recovery at the tomb of Acutis in the Umbrian town of Assisi six days later.
The church said that on the same day, Valverde began to breathe without a ventilator and recovered the use of her upper limbs and her speech.
She was discharged from intensive care 10 days later and scans showed that the contusion on her brain had disappeared, according to reports.
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