Canonization of Pier Giorgio Frassati

On Sunday, 7 September 2025, in St Peter’s Square, Pope Leo XIV will, God willing, canonize Pier Giorgio Frassati (1901–1925), a young layman known for his intense life of faith, his social commitment, and his closeness to people living in poverty. The Holy See has set the celebration for 10:00 a.m., in a Mass that will also include the canonization of Carlo Acutis.

Born in Turin, Frassati was a mining engineering student, a member of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul (SSVP), and an avid mountaineer who made his motto “to the heights” a program of life. Socially, he opposed fascism, promoted Catholic social teaching, and organized direct aid for working families and people who were ill in Turin; he died at the age of 24 from polio and was beatified by John Paul II in 1990.

Pier Giorgio is “one of ours”: he joined a Conference at the age of 17 and, until the end of his life, carried out home visits, provided financial support to specific families, and encouraged other young people to serve those who suffer most. The SSVP has repeatedly proposed him as a model for its youth because of the coherence between prayer and charity in his life and his simple yet demanding way of living social friendship.

Today his canonization confirms that holiness can be lived in the ordinary, alongside people who are poor, with moral rigor and a contagious joy. We hope his example will encourage our Conferences to persevere in the home visit, accompaniment, and social justice that he practiced.