The relics of two saints-to-be – Blesseds Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis – will be in Rome for veneration during the Jubilee of Youth July 28-Aug. 3, according to worldyouthday.com.
The Church of San Marcello al Corso will become a “Blessed Carlo Acutis Center” to host talks, prayer, Masses and the veneration of the first-class pericardium relic of the young blessed, it said.
Visitors will also be invited to write their prayer intentions on cards, which will be taken to his tomb in Assisi, Italy, according to Catholic Christian Outreach, which organized the initiative.
The coffin with Blessed Frassati’s body will be brought from his tomb in Turin, Italy, to Rome’s Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, near the Pantheon, for veneration, the website said. The initiative will include a series of talks and Masses organized by the Dominican Order; Blessed Frassati was a member of the Dominican Third Order.
Both blesseds will be proclaimed saints during a canonization ceremony at the Vatican Sept. 7.
The canonization of Blessed Acutis, a teenager known for his devotion to the Eucharist and creating an online exhibition of Eucharistic miracles, had originally been scheduled for April 27 during the Jubilee of Teenagers, but it was postponed following the death of Pope Francis in April. The late pope had also intended to proclaim Blessed Frassati, who was known for his life of service and charity, a saint during the summertime Jubilee of Youth.
The U.S.-based John Paul II Project will be providing support by having young adult alumni of its project programs keep watch over Blessed Frassati’s body, according to a July 18 press release.
Alumni will also be serving as missionaries in three locations for events that are free and open to the public, it said.
The events in English will include talks, Eucharistic adoration vigils, street evangelization, serving the homeless, and “assisting pilgrims in the veneration of the body of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati,” it said.
“The Centro San Lorenzo, located next to St. Peter’s Basilica and home of the original WYD cross, is their base for most activities,” it said. There will be opportunities for confession and to see “an exhibit on St. John Paul II and a Marian shrine inspired by Pier Giorgio.”
The full program is at jp2project.org/youth-jubilee-mission.
Blessed Carlo Acutis (left) died of leukemia in 2006 at age 15. Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati (right) died at age 24 and was beatified by St. John Paul II in 1990. The canonization ceremony for Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati and Blessed Carlo Acutis will take place Sept. 7. (CNS file photo)
