On September 7, 2025, Carlo Acutis, an Italian-born millennial tech-savvy teen known as “God’s influencer,” was officially canonized in St. Peter’s Square by Pope Leo XIV, becoming the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint (See The Guardian).

What makes Costa Rica uniquely significant in this momentous event? The second miracle required for Acutis’s sainthood involved a young Costa Rican woman. In July 2022, 21-year-old Valeria Valverde, studying in Florence, suffered a devastating bicycle accident that left her with severe head trauma and limited chances of survival. Her mother, Liliana, prayed fervently at Acutis’s tomb in Assisi. Miraculously, Valeria began breathing on her own that very day, and within days, she fully recovered, astonishing her doctors. This healing was officially recognized by the Vatican as Acutis’s second miracle and cleared the way for his canonization (See Vatican News).

Costa Rica also received a tangible connection to this miracle: in June 2024, the Vatican sent a first-degree relic (a sample of Carlo Acutis’s hair) to the Diocese of Cartago, where it was received and later housed at the Parish of Santa María Goretti, a gesture that underscores the deep spiritual bond between Costa Rica and this new saint (See Tico Times).

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Valeria herself attended the canonization Mass and took part in reading the universal prayer, embodying both the miracle and the gratitude of a nation’s faithful (See Angelus News).

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