Blesseds Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati are pictured in a combination photo. On 13 June 2025 the Vatican announced that the Mass of canonisation for Blesseds Carlo and Pier will take place on 7 September (OSV News photo/courtesy Sainthood Cause of Carlo Acutis and CNS files.
- “I pray that these two new saints will inspire our young people to draw closer to Christ in the Eucharist and to live lives of service, courage, and hope” – Bishop Fintan Gavin
Tomorrow Sunday, 7 September, in Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome, Pope Leo XIV will celebrate Mass for the canonisation of Blesseds Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati. This Mass will be broadcast worldwide and transmitted by RTÉ One Television and on RTÉ Radio 1 Extra, from 10.15am, with commentary by Wendy Grace.
Looking forward the canonisations, Bishop Fintan Gavin, Bishop of Cork and Ross, and who serves as chairman of the Council for Evangelisation, Catechetics and Pastoral Renewal of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, said, “The lives of Blessed Carlo Acutis and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati send a powerful message to young people in our parishes, schools, colleges and those entering the workplace – that true happiness is not only possible today, but is also deeply attractive. Blesseds Carlo and Pier show us that, in giving our lives to God, and to others, we will find that inner joy and happiness which we all seek.
“Carlo, who called the Eucharist his ‘highway to heaven’, used his gifts in the digital world to share his love for Jesus. Pier Giorgio, known as ‘the man of the Beatitudes,’ lived his faith with joy, friendship, and a tireless commitment to the poor.
“I pray that these two new saints will inspire our young people to draw closer to Christ in the Eucharist and to live lives of service, courage, and hope,” Bishop Fintan said.
In Ireland tomorrow, on Sunday, these dioceses will be marking the Mass of canonisation with local liturgies and gatherings to which all are welcome:
– Archdiocese of Armagh: invites all families and young people to come to a special celebration in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh, to mark the canonisation of Blesseds Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati. It will begin with a ‘Prayer Walk’ in the cathedral grounds at 10.00am, followed by the celebration of Mass by Bishop Michael Router in the Cathedral at 11.00am.
– Archdiocese of Dublin: from 9.00am until 11.00am, the livestream of the canonisation will take place in the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary on City Quay, followed by the celebration of Mass by Bishop Paul Dempsey with music will be provided by Shalom choir. All are invited to venerate the relics of Saint Carlo Acutis in the church, and to take time for prayer and quiet reflection until 6.00pm.
– Diocese of Derry: Saint Eugene’s Cathedral has a specially commissioned wooden statue of Blessed Carlo as well as a relic that his mother gave to the diocese. There will be an opportunity to venerate the relic from 3.00pm – 6.30pm. The Sacrament of Reconciliation will be available during that time. Bishop Donal McKeown will then celebrate Mass in the Cathedral at 7.00pm.
– Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin: following 12.30pm Mass in the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Carlow, Bishop Denis Nulty will offer a blessing with the holy relic of Blessed Carlo.
– Diocese of Killaloe: today Saturday, celebration of Mass at 7.30pm in honour of the canonisation will take place in Saint Brendan’s Church, Birr, with the Brendan Pastoral Area Youth Group and the Brendan Pastoral Area Choir.
ENDS
On 23 May 2024, the late Pope Francis approved the decree for the canonisation of Blessed Carlo Acutis, the young layman from Lombardy in northern Italy, famed for his love of the Eucharist and his passion for technology, who has been defined by many as “an influencer of holiness”. Carlos Acutis was born in 1991 and died in 2006 of fulminant leukemia, and even during his lifetime was famed for his sanctity. He was beatified by Pope Francis on 10 October 2020, in Assisi, where Carlo is buried.
Blessed Piergiorgio (Pier) Frassati was born in 1901, and died at just 24-years-old. He was a student from Turin, also in northern Italy, a Dominican tertiary and was very active in the Catholic Action movement, in Fuci (the Italian Catholic students’ organisation) and with the Vincentians. He is one of the best known and best loved blesseds among young Catholics, and is considered one of the Italian “social” saints, because of his life completely dedicated to the most needy. He came from a wealthy family, the son of Alfredo Frassati, who was the editor of La Stampa, Turin’s famous newspaper. In his short life was devoted to prayer and helping the vulnerable. He is also famed as the “saint of the peaks”, because he loved climbing mountains, accompanying his friends to the highest peaks, so as to see the sky better. He would end his many letters to friends with the phrase “Duc in Altum” (Put out into the deep), and was known as the “boy of the eight beatitudes”. He was beatified by Saint John Paul II in 1990.
2025 is a Holy/Jubilee Year of celebration throughout the Catholic world, to which everyone is invited to participate. The theme for this Holy Year is: ‘Pilgrims of Hope’ (Spes non Confundit – Hope Does Not Disappoint). Canonisations have always played an important role in the history of Holy Years. Among others, were the canonisation of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, by Pope Francis, on 4 September 2016, during the Jubilee of Mercy; Sister Faustina Kowalska, canonised by Pope Saint John Paul II in the Great Jubilee of 2000; and, Saint Maria Goretti, elevated to the glory of the altars in the Jubilee of 1950 by Pope Pius XII.
Pope Leo XIV will celebrate the Mass of canonisation on Sunday 9 September, thus proclaiming to the universal Church, and to the world, the stories of holiness of two young people who, during their lifetime, were authentic witnesses of the Christian “Hope that does not disappoint.”