Today, September 7th, 2025 marks a joyous day for the Catholic Church as they officially canonize Blessed Carlo Acutis and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati as new, young Saints. The process of officially declaring someone a Saint in the Catholic Church is extensive and it is not every day that a new canonization occurs.
When someone is being considered for the Sainthood, a formal investigation into the life of the individual is conducted by gathering documents and testimony from others, a process that can take several years. The key to the Church investigation is to prove that the candidate lived a holy life and demonstrated heroic virtues. Then, one to two miracles must be identified that resulted from the intercession of said Saint. To be considered “Blessed” one miracle must be proven, and then to be officially canonized “Saint”, a second miracle. After years in the works, we are fortunate to witness the Church welcome these two new Saints into the Sainthood.
Who Are Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati?
Previously Blessed, Saint Carlo Acutis and Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati have officially been Canonized on September 7th. They are considered Saints of our time. They are two young men who lived short lives, but lived them to the fullest, in a way glorifying to God. The Vatican made the decision to Canonize them together in the Catholic Church’s Jubilee year of Youth as an example for other young Catholics.
Carlo Acutis: The First Millennial Saint
Saint Carlos Acutis 1991-2006 | Image by Cathopic
Saint Carlo Acutis was born in London in 1991. He was diagnosed with Leukemia as a teenager and died in 2006 at the age of only 15. He offered his illness and suffering to the Lord on behalf of the Church and the Pope. As a child he had a special love for the Eucharist and the rosary and went to mass as often as he could at the church across form his elementary school once he received his First Communion. His devotion to the faith inspired a conversion in his mother and others who were a witness to his faith. He was good at technology and created a website exhibit for Eucharistic Miracles around the world, which has gone to be displayed at thousands of Parishes across the globe.
Two miracles have been approved as signs of his intercession. The first involved the healing of a Brazilian child with a malformed pancreas. The second, was the recovery of 21-year-old Valeria Valverde from Costa Rica, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a bicycle accident but survived and made a full recovery.
Pier Giorgio Frassati: Man of the Beatitudes
Saint Pier Giorgi Frassati (1901 – 1925) | Image by Wikipedia
Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati was declared “Man of the Beatitudes” by Pope St. John Paul II for living out the beatitudes in his day-to-day life. Just like Carlo Acutis, Pier Giorgio was involved in his Catholic Church community and used his favorite hobby, mountain-climbing, as an outlet for his faith. He organized mountain climbing trips complete with fellowship, prayer, and Catholic community. On what was his final hike, he wrote a note on a photo, "Verso L'Alto" which means “to the heights.” This has become the motto for his Catholic faith and young people in the Church can apply this same philosophy to their ordinary life and each “mountain climb” they face. Life is a journey with peaks abd valleys but facing it with faith and the Lord, the final destination of heaven can be achieved.
Blessed Pier Giorgio died young, at the age of 24 after contracting polio from the numerous visits he would have with the sick and the poor. On his death bed, he asked a friend to take the medicine needed for injections to a poor man, Converso, who he had been visiting with before he no longer could.
Lessons for Today’s Young Catholics
Today, the Catholic Church has made a huge comeback in the number of young people attending mass and practicing the Catholic faith. Many young people are converting and reverting back to the tradition of the Catholic Church that had previously been seen as antiquated. There’s an increase number of young women veiling and an increase in attendance at the Traditional Latin Mass for Millennials and Gen Z. Young people are seeking holiness and Sainthood more than ever before. The examples of Saint Carlo Acutis and Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati show the youth that holiness can be achieved no matter where you are in life. You can be devoted to Christ and still a normal teenager or young adult, just as these Saints were.
Jubilee Holy Door | | Image by Cathopic
Canonizing both these young men on the same day, and during the Church’s Jubilee Year, shows the Vatican’s desire to place young, relatable, models of holiness before today’s young Catholics. It shows that the Church values its children and youth and the Church’s future. Young Catholics can clearly see these young men their own age, from their own generation, who have attained this holiness they are seeking. These are not typical Saints of your grandparent or parents’ generation, they are Saints for our own, modern time.
How to Live Out Their Example in Daily Life
What makes both these young men unique is that both were considered extraordinary in their ordinary life. They serve as a model for ordinary people to live their average life in a remarkable way. This is something anyone can attain, to live a simple life in an extraordinary way. It challenges young people to take their routine of school or work and offer it completely to Christ. You don’t have to do extraordinary things to be holy and devoted to God, you can do normal things in an extraordinary, loving way. Each individual child and young adult have a unique gift or talent God blessed them with. Carlo Acutis was tech savvy and found a way to glorify God by creating a Eucharistic Miracles website. Giorgio Frassati was an active mountain climber, and each talent by both men was done for the glory of the kingdom of heaven. God calls everyone in different ways and sanctity can be attained through it all! Young people must resist mediocracy and climb the heights of holiness. Young people are not called to just live in the world, but to transform the world with love and authenticity. By embracing Christ and the faith, young people can shed a light onto the world unlike any other.
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