The Church in Italy has expressed its gratitude for the recent canonization of two young people from their own nation: Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis, elevated to the altars by Pope Leo XIV on September 7.
Although Carlo Acutis was born in London in 1991, within a few months his family moved to Milan, the city that would become the home of the new saint. Also in northern Italy, in Turin, Pier Giorgio Frassati was born and grew.
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On behalf of the Catholic Church in Italy, the presidency of the Italian Espiscopal Conference expressed its gratitude and joy for the two new saints, “models for young people of all time.”
In a message Extended shortly before the canonization, the Italian prelates stressed that the testimony of “these children of the Church in Italy” continues to bear fruit and inspire generations of young people.
For the president of the CEI, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, holiness transforms time, “projecting it towards that dimension that is already our future for us, but that belongs to the beyond awaits us.”
Finally, they expressed that “their testimony will undoubtedly generate other stories of holiness in the monitoring of the Lord, which continues in our lives.”
For his part, Cardinal Marcelo Semeraro, Prefect of Dicastery for the causes of the saints, celebrated on September 8 a thanksgiving Mass for Carlo Acutis in the Basilica of San Pedro, which was attended by the family of this new “Millennial Holy”.
On the day on which the Nativity of the Virgin Mary is celebrated, the purple pointed out in his homily that Acutis based all his human and spiritual path on humility. This virtue, for the cardinal, “made him expand his gaze towards poverty and the needs of the weakest and needy.”
He also highlighted his deep devotion to the Virgin Mary, to which he referred as “the only woman of her life”, and added that the saints “help us to navigate life always oriented towards Christ.” Specifically, ”the cardinal added,” Acutis invites us “to savor life to the bottom and go to the Lord’s encounter at the Festival of Heaven.”
For his part, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the Cardenalicio College, also presided over a Mass to thank the elevation to the altars of Pier Giorgio Frassati in the Roman Church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, where last July the body of Frassati was exposed for the veneration of the faithful.
In his homily, the purple highlighted the news of the testimony of the new saint, especially “at this time when the world is caught in wars that, also due to the power of modern weapons, are causing horrors and a dehumanization without limits.”
For the Vatican authority, Pier Giorgio Frassati was a young “modern, strong and brilliant” who taught “that serving Christ does not mean departing from the world, but to value the gifts received from God, a source of true joy.”
The purple also extolled their service to the poor and in need, as well as their ability to “generate fraternity”, without forgetting their commitment to public life and society of the moment.
Almudena Martínez-Bordiú
Graduated in journalism and advertising from the CEU San Pablo University of Madrid. Specialized in religious information in Spain since 2015. It has been a senior correspondent for ACI Press and Ewtn News at the Vatican for two years and is currently a correspondent for Europe based on Spain.