On 23 May last, Pope Francis approved the decree for the canonisation of Blessed Carlo Acutis, the young layman from Lombardy in northern Italy, famed for his love of the Eucharist and his passion for technology, who has been defined by many as “an influencer of holiness”. Carlos Acutis was born in 1991 and died in 2006 of fulminant leukemia, and even during his lifetime was famed for his sanctity. He was beatified by Pope Francis on 10 October 2020, in Assisi, where Carlo is buried.
Next year, during the Jubilee of Teenagers, which falls on 25 – 27 April during the Jubilee Year, Pope Francis will canonise Blessed Carlo and, separately over July/August, during the Jubilee of Young People, The Holy Father will also canionise Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. The Pope made this official announcement during his general audience in Saint Peter’s Square on 20 November, as part of World Children’s Day. Blessed Carlo will be declared a saint on Sunday, 27 April 2025, during closing Mass for the Jubilee weekend dedicated to teens. Blessed Pier, the young man from Turin, will be raised to the glory of the altars during the Mass on 3 August next, at the culmination of the much-anticipated Jubilee of Young People.
Piergiorgio Frassati was born in 1901, and died at just 24 years old. He was a student from Turin, also in northern Italy, a Dominican tertiary and was very active in the Catholic Action movement, in Fuci (the Italian Catholic students’ organisation) and with the Vincentians. He is one of the best known and best loved blesseds among young Catholics, and is considered one of the Italian “social” saints, because of his life completely dedicated to the most needy. He came from a wealthy family, the son of Alfredo Frassati, who was the editor of La Stampa, Turin’s famous newspaper, and his short life was devoted to prayer and helping the vulnerable. He is also famed as the “saint of the peaks”, because he loved climbing mountains, accompanying his friends to the highest peaks, so as to see the sky better. He would end his many letters to friends with the phrase “Duc in Altum” (Put out into the deep) and was known as the “boy of the eight beatitudes”. He was beatified by Saint John Paul II in 1990.
Canonisations have always played an important role in the history of Holy Years. Among others, were the canonisation of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, by Pope Francis on 4 September 2016, during the Jubilee of Mercy, Sister Faustina Kowalska canonised by Pope John Paul II in the Great Jubilee of 2000, and Saint Maria Goretti, elevated to the glory of the altars in the Jubilee of 1950 by Pope Pius XII.
The upcoming Jubilee will thus proclaim to the universal Church, and to the world, the stories of holiness of two young people who, during their lifetime, were authentic witnesses of the “Hope that does not disappoint.”
ENDS
Source: https://www.iubilaeum2025.va/
