Pier Giorgio Frassati (6 April 1901 – 4 July 1925) was an Italian Catholic activist and a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic. He was dedicated to social justice issues and joined several charitable organizations, including Catholic Action and the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, to better aid the poor and less fortunate living in his hometown of Turin.

Frassati's cause for canonization opened in 1932 after the Turin poor made several pleas for such a cause to open. Pope Pius XII suspended the cause in 1941 due to a range of allegations later proven to be false, which allowed for the cause to resume. Pope John Paul II beatified Frassati in May 1990 and dubbed him the "Man of the Eight Beatitudes".

Life

Pier Giorgio Frassati was born on 6 April 1901 – Holy Saturday – to Alfredo Frassati, an agnostic who owned the liberal newspaper La Stampa, and Adélaïde Ametis, who was a painter. His only sibling – a sister – was Luciana Frassati Gawronska (18 August 1902 – 7 October 2007). His first confession was heard at the church of Corpus Christi on 20 June 1910, and he received his First Communion on 19 June 1911; he received his Confirmation in his parish church on 10 June 1915.. He was once arrested in Rome while protesting alongside the 1921 Young Catholic Workers Congress. He was involved with student groups as well as the Apostleship of Prayer and Catholic Action (joined in 1919) to which he dedicated himself.

Frassati died at 7:00 pm on 4 July 1925 due to polio.

In 1941, Pope Pius XII suspended the cause upon the airing of allegations questioning Frassati's morals and claiming that Frassati went to the mountains in mixed and questionable company. His sister—sometime after this—went to Rome to discuss this with Vatican officials to rehabilitate her brother's good name rather than to resume the cause. The allegations were proven false, and Vatican officials declared that the cause would resume.

Posthumous recognition

Frassati is the eponym and patron of the Frassati Catholic Academy in Wauconda which is a middle school founded in the Archdiocese of Chicago in 2010 and also the Frassati Catholic High School which opened in August 2013 in Houston. Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati Catholic School was opened as part of the Toronto Catholic District School Board on 3 September 2013 in the Scarborough area of Toronto in Canada.

Pier Giorgio Frassati is the patron of Bishop McGuinness High School in Oklahoma, and the school awards the "Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati Award" to its students who have performed a high level of service to others.

Frassati Australia - based in Brisbane - venerates Pier Giorgio Frassati as their patron and as a role model for adolescent men. Frassati Australia engages them in the Catholic faith and encourages them to encounter Christ through living an authentic Catholic life in brotherhood and through charitable outreach. At the present time, there are at least three Frassati Houses in Brisbane and around twelve men in these houses.

Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia, a Roman Catholic liberal arts college, has hosted the Frassati Invitational rugby tournament annually since 2016.

On 22 March 2019, Auburn University's Catholic Ministry dedicated Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati Chapel in Auburn, Alabama, with Archbishop Rodi of Mobile. The chapel allows for Auburn's college students the ability to pray there 24 hours a day and hosts Thursday evening mass there during the school year. The chapel also holds a relic of Blessed Frassati.

On 10 December 2021, the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines inaugurated the Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati Building, which now houses the senior high school program of the university.

Papal recognition

In 1989, John Paul II visited his tomb and paid honour to him, calling him the "Man of the Eight Beatitudes". Pope Benedict XVI called upon adolescents in 2010 to follow the example of Frassati to "... discover that it is worth committing oneself to God ... to respond to His call in the fundamental decisions" throughout one's life.

Relics

Frassati's remains have been moved from their resting place in Turin three times for World Youth Day, to Sydney in 2008, to Kraków in 2016 and to Rome in August 2025.

Canonization

On 27 April 2024, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, announced during the 18th National Assembly of Italian Catholic Action that the canonization of Frassati had been cleared. His canonization date was slated for sometime in 2025, a jubilee year. Instead, the canonization ceremony took place on 7 September 2025 under Pope Leo XIV, who canonized him along with Carlo Acutis.

See also

  • Luciana Frassati Gawronska – Pier Giorgio's sister

References

  • Hagiography Circle
  • Saints SQPN
  • Santi e Beati
  • piergiorgiofrassati.org
  • Pier Giorgio Frassati's official website
  • Frassati Catholic High School