Belarus archbishop blesses AI-generated image of Carlo Acutis

On October 11, Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz blessed an AI-generated image of Carlo Acutis at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Novolukoml, Belarus.

Kondrusiewicz is the former head of the Catholic Church in Belarus.

Acutis was an Italian teenager who built websites for Catholic organizations and documented miracles online.

He died of leukemia at age 15 in 2006, and the Vatican made him a saint in 2025.

He is known as the patron saint of the internet and the first millennial saint.

Some believers criticized the blessing on social media, saying an image made by AI cannot be considered an icon.

The blessing was reported as the first of an AI-generated icon in Belarus, and no further steps were reported.