2025-09-07 Pope Leo XIV Canonization Acutis Frassati CBCP News Tapestries of newly canonized Saints Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati hang from the façade of St. Peter’s Basilica during their canonization Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (MELOT ESTENZO/CADCOM)

Pope Leo urges youth: Don’t waste your lives, follow Acutis and Frassati

VATICAN — Pope Leo XIV on Sunday, Sept. 7, called on young Catholics to follow the example of Saints Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati, saying their lives prove that holiness can be achieved through simple faith, joy, and service.

“Saints Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis are an invitation to all of us, especially young people, not to squander our lives, but to direct them upward and make them masterpieces,” the pope said in his homily at St. Peter’s Square, where tens of thousands, including Filipino pilgrims, gathered for the canonization Mass.

The ceremony marked the first canonizations presided over by Pope Leo, who was elected earlier this year.

Pilgrims waved flags, banners, and images of the two young saints, whose stories have inspired Catholics across generations.

Acutis, who died of leukemia in 2006 at age 15, was known for his computer skills and for creating an online catalog of Eucharistic miracles.

Often dubbed “the first millennial saint,” he once said: “Sadness is looking at yourself; happiness is looking at God.”

Frassati, an Italian student and rock climber who died in 1925 at age 24, was remembered for his joyful spirit, deep faith, and service to the poor.

Nicknamed the “Transport Company” for carrying supplies to needy families in Turin, he believed that “charity is the foundation of our religion.”

In his homily, Pope Leo stressed that the sanctity of the two new saints did not come from extraordinary deeds but from everyday faithfulness.

“Both Pier Giorgio and Carlo cultivated their love for God and for their brothers and sisters through simple acts, available to everyone: daily Mass, prayer, and especially Eucharistic Adoration,” he said.

The pontiff warned that “the greatest risk in life is to waste it outside of God’s plan,” urging young people to give their “yes” to God as Francis of Assisi and Augustine once did, just as Acutis and Frassati did in modern times.

The canonization was attended by Acutis’ parents and siblings, who presented his relics.

Pilgrims from Italy and beyond camped overnight at Vatican gates to secure spots in the square.

The Vatican attributed Acutis’ canonization to two miracles: the healing of a Brazilian boy with a pancreatic disorder and a Costa Rican girl who recovered after a severe head injury.

Two miracles were also credited to Frassati’s intercession, the most recent being the unexplained healing of an American seminarian with a ruptured Achilles tendon.

By declaring Acutis and Frassati saints, the Church formally recognized their intercession and universal example.

Pope Leo said their witness shows that sainthood is not reserved for a few but is “the simple but winning formula of holiness” open to all who place God at the center of their lives. (Charmaine Bernadette Villegas/CBCP News)


A version of this article was first published by CBCP News.

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