Italian | Pakistan

A teenager who died of leukaemia in 2006 became the first Catholic saint of the millennial generation on Sunday, in a Vatican ceremony led by Pope Leo and attended by thousands of young worshippers from dozens of countries. Carlo Acutis, a British-born Italian boy who died aged 15, learned computer code to build websites to spread his faith. His story has drawn wide attention from Catholic youth, and he is now at the same level as Mother Teresa and Francis of Assisi. Leo, the first US pontiff, canonised Acutis on Sunday along with Pier Giorgio Frassati, a young Italian man who was known for helping those in need and died of polio in the 1920s. In impromptu remarks to crowds in St. Peter’s Square at the opening of the event, Leo said Acutis and Frassati were examples of holiness and of helping those in need. “All of you, all of us together, are called to be saints,” the pontiff told the young crowd, which had spilt out of the square down the main boulevard into the Vatican from Rome. Acutis’ canonisation had b...

Italian orienteering athlete Mattia Debertolis died on Tuesday at the World Games in Chengdu, China after collapsing during competition, organisers said. Debertolis, 29, was found unconscious during an orienteering event on August 8 and died four days later, said a joint statement from World Games organisers and the International Orienteering Federation (IOF). The World Games is a multisport event held every four years for disciplines not included in the Olympics. “Despite receiving immediate expert medical care at one of China’s leading medical institutions, he passed away,” the statement said. It did not provide details on the cause of death. Orienteering sees athletes navigate an unmarked course with a map and compass, punching in at designated spots along the route in the quickest time. The event, held about 50 kilometres outside of central Chengdu, took place in intense heat and humidity, with temperatures above 30 degrees. Debertolis, from Primiero in eastern Italy, was taking part in the final of the m...