Ancient and modern. Relics and social media. Latin and Reel. Tears and prayers. Strange trajectory that of the canonization of Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis.
They had to be proclaimed saints from Pope Francis – Acutis on April 23, Frassati on August 3 during the Jubilee of young people – and instead they are the first saints of the pontificate of Leo XIV. Who, surprisingly, shortly before the beginning of the celebration, arrives on the churchyard of St. Peter’s Square to greet the faithful, the official delegations (to represent Italy, there are the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella and the President of the Chamber of Deputies Lorenzo Fontana): “Even if today’s liturgy is solemn, this is a day of celebration, of joy”, he marks the pontiff who at the end at the end when he will pass in all the sectors to greet the faithful at the end.
In San Pietro – where almost 100 thousand people will arrive in the end with the crowd that also fills Via della Conciliation Up to Piazza Pia – The turnstiles open around half past six in the morning but the checks to access the square create very long queues that last until just before the start of the celebration.
On the eve of this canonization, in this last escape, hot, in summer, Rome seemed sly, silent, not very crowded. And instead in the night – with special trains and bus – hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from all over Italy have arrived. About a thousand from Milan, the diocese of Carlo Acutis, with the archbishop Mario Delpini that concelebrated the mass together with the Pope. Just under a thousand also from Turin, the city of Frassati, with the archbishop Roberto Repole that he also concelebrates.
A special train arrived at San Pietro station directly from Assisi, The city where Acutis was beatified in 2020 and where, in the dressing sanctuary, the remains rest with a webcam that frames its face as a teenager, dressed in jeans and tennis shoes. The same outfit of the photo chosen by the Vatican for the official tapestry placed on the facade of the Basilica of San Pietro while on the other side stands the black and white one of Pier Giorgio Frassati with the closets that are haired, jacket and tie and the sly smile, just sketched.
Saints young people. Parallel saints, albeit a century later, Different yet complementary saints. Frassati, fully twentieth -century, died at 24 in 1925, one hundred years ago, hit by a polomelite contracted to help the sick. Acutis, the first saint of the Millennial generation, at 15 years old in 2006 for a fulminating leukemia.
“The love for the poor holds them together, Christian charity exercised with discretion, commitment and self -sacrifice”, A girl who arrived from Brazil says. And Brazil – but all of South America – is crossed by a deep devotion, almost visceral for the “holy boy” who used the internet to evangelize and make known the eucharistic miracles on which he had created a multimedia exhibition that has shot many countries in recent years.
Jaine Lorena She came from Rio de Janeiro and wraps itself in a flag of her country with the image of Acutis: “I could not miss”, he says, “is a figure that I feel close to my faith”. Danielafrom Colombia, says in perfect Italian that Carlo Acutis helped her for her Eucharistic devotion.
The banners with the images of Frassati are less “from Santino”. There is the company of the Loschi types with Pier Giorgio – it is called just like the new saint – who arrived from San Benedetto del Tronto together with his friends: “Frassati”, he says, “he had a cheerful, jovial, light -hearted holiness. That’s what strikes me most ».
They wave the flags of the Catholic action, where Frassati played and formed, cited by Pope Leo in the homily, and on many banners stands the phrase that the son of the very secular director of the Press repeated to everyone, “Upward”, combining his faith with a passion for the mountain.
Two Italian holy but also international saints in the ability to embrace looks, tighten lives, accompany many people from all over the globe And whose message – especially for Acutis – came everywhere thanks to the Internet and social media.
Brigitte arrives from Australia, wears the t-shirt with the two saints depicted as a comic and participated, together with the digital missionaries, in a moment of prayer on Saturday evening in the church of San Lorenzo, a stone’s throw from the Vatican: “Acutis is extraordinary”.
A monsignor arrived from Assisi, Antony Figueiredo, Bring a relic with some relics of Acutis. A Brazilian lady asks her to bless her smartphone, makes him approach the relics and during prayer he bursts into crying. Others resume the scene.
Next to the colonnade, on the side of Piazza Sant’Affizio, there is a group of journalists and cameramen. A group of British boys passes: “What’s Happening here?”. Acutis’ mother, Antonia Salzano, is about to arrive, who tells how it is a mother of a saint and attend her canonization: “Carlo,” he says, “he saved me, I had a warm and inconstant faith. He made me understand many things ». Then, to the question about what the activity of “influencer of God” of the son consisted of the son, the Mother replies: “Today influencers must convey good values as Carlo did in his life”.
To the eye, the kids follow more acutis, contemporary saint, young and adults frassati. “But it is not a derby,” says a monsignor who comes to concelebrate mass. Elena, from Veneto, puts her down like this: “Why do we like Acutis and Frassati so much and go strong on social networks? Because they are simple saints, next door, normal, even with many defects. If they made it to become saints, why can’t we do it too? ».
