Pope Francis clears the way for Carlo Acutis to become the first millennial saint

The final step is for the pope to approve a second miracle.

According to the Vatican, the second miracle concerns the healing of a Costa Rican university student who suffered a serious head injury after falling from her bicycle in Florence. The woman needed major brain surgery and doctors had warned that survival rates were low. The woman’s mother went to Assisi to pray for her daughter at Carlo’s tomb at the Sanctuary of Renunciation and ask for Carlo’s intercession.

The young woman quickly began to show signs of improvement in breathing, mobility and speech, the Vatican said. Ten days after the woman’s mother visited Charles’ grave, a CT scan showed that the bleeding in the woman’s brain had disappeared and she was later transferred to a rehabilitation facility.

The Pope said Thursday that he will convene a meeting of cardinals to evaluate Charles’ sanctity. The Vatican has not announced a date for the formal canonization ceremony.

Charles’ path to becoming the first millennial saint is a milestone, said Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a history professor at the University of Notre Dame and author of the book “A Saint of Our Own: How the Quest for a Holy Hero Helped Catholics Become American” .” Carlo used the Internet and her computer skills to spread his faith, giving the Catholic Church an opportunity to show a more positive side on social media, she said. Making Charles a saint can also help the Church connect with young Catholics, many of whom have become increasingly disengaged, she said.