Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati will “be a saint soon,” Pope Francis said at the Vatican on June 24, 2024, in a meeting with around 350 delegates from the Roman Charity association Circolo San Pietro (the Circle of St. Peter). Pier Giorgio Frassati was a young Italian man from the Piedmont region who devoted his life to serving the poor, before dying of polio in 1925 at 24-years-old. He is expected to be canonized during the 2025 Jubilee.
“Pier Giorgio was from a wealthy family, upper class, [his father Alfredo Frassati, was a politician and the director of the Italian daily La Stampa, Ed.], but he did not grow up 'in cotton wool'," Pope Francis said. “He did not lose himself in the 'good life,' because in him was the sap of the Holy Spirit, there was love for Jesus and for his brothers and sisters.” Straying from his prepared speech the Pontiff added spontaneously that Frassati “will be a saint soon.”
Last April, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, announced that the canonization of Pier Giorgio Frassati "is now clear on the horizon and looming for the next Jubilee year." The Jubilee is expected to attract millions of pilgrims to Rome in 2025. Frassati could possibly be canonized during the Youth Jubilee, scheduled to take place from July 28 to August 3, 2025. The young Italian man was beatified by John Paul II in 1990.
Helping those in need, and prepping the Jubilee
Pope Francis cited Pier Giorgio Frassati, who was an active member of the Italian Catholic Action in Turin, as an example for the members of the Circolo San Pietro, which was founded by young people in 1869 at the encouragement of Pope Pius IX to provide meals for the poor in Rome.
In his speech, Pope Francis mentioned the Jubilee, which the Italian capital is actively preparing for with a number of construction sites. “The 'construction site' that cannot be left out is that of charity! Pilgrims and tourists who come to Rome should 'breathe' the air of Christian charity, which is not only assistance; it is care for dignity, it is closeness, it is lived sharing, without publicity, without spotlights,” the Pope said in his speech.
The Circolo San Pietro currently distributes 45,000 meals a year in its three canteens. It also runs a night shelter which counts around 8,500 overnight stays a year and provides psychological, legal and administrative advice to those in need.
