On Sunday 7 September, we celebrated the canonisation of Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati, a member of the St Vincent de Paul Society in Italy, who passed away at the age of 24 in July 1925.  

This is significant for us; although other Society members have been declared Saints, Saint Pier Giorgio is arguably the first for whom the Society was a central part of his life and his ministry.

Pier Giorgio Frassati was born in 1901 in Turin, Italy and grew up with a deep faith and a strong prayer life, despite his parents’ disapproval. His sister, Luciana, described him as representing the finest in Christian youth: pure, happy, enthusiastic about everything that is good and beautiful. From a young age, he wished to help others – once as a child, answering the door to find a mother begging with her son who had no shoes, he removed his shoes and gave them to the child.

As his faith deepened, he became more enthusiastic in living a life of faith in action. At the age of 17, Pier Giorgio joined the St Vincent de Paul Society and took any opportunity to help the poor, often giving away his bus fare for charity and then running home to be on time for meals. When Pier Giorgio graduated from high school, his father offered him the present of a car or money. Choosing the money, he then gave it to the poor. He would even forego family vacations away from Turin, saying, “If everybody leaves Turin, who will take care of the poor?”

Seeing his life as one of service, he began studying to be a mining engineer, to “serve Christ better among the miners”. Pier Giorgio was very socially and politically active, as a member of student and political organisations which promoted Catholic Social Teaching.

He was strongly anti-fascist when it was not safe to display such views in Mussolini’s Italy. While in a Church-organised demonstration in Rome, the police, subjecting the group to intimidation and violence, knocked a banner out of the hands of another student. Pier Giorgio grabbed the banner and held it even higher, using the banner’s pole to fend off the blows of the guards.

Pier Giorgio was charismatic, handsome and athletic. An avid hiker and mountaineer, he organised outings in the mountains with friends, taking the opportunity along the way to lead them in prayer and discussions about their faith. He encouraged them to join him at Mass, reading Scripture, and praying the Rosary. A lover of art, music and culture, he also was known for his sense of humour and practical jokes, earning him the nickname “The Terror”!

At age 24, Pier Giorgio contracted polio, likely caught from the sick people he was visiting. Even on his deathbed his thoughts were with those he was assisting. One of his final acts was to scribble with a partially paralysed hand a message to a Society member, to take medicine to a poor sick man he had been visiting.

A week after falling ill, Pier Giorgio died on 4 July 1925. At Pier Giorgio’s funeral, his family were astounded to see the city’s streets lined with hundreds of mourners who had been unknown to them – the poor of Turin whom he had served for the past seven years.  

Today, Saint Pier Giorgio is a Patron of World Youth Day, and worldwide Patron of Vincentian Youth.  Described by Pope John Paul II as a “Man of the Beatitudes”, his embrace of holiness in a spirit of joy, courage and selflessness make him a wonderful role model for young people and all Vincentians.