More than 80,000 people gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Sept. 7 for the canonization Mass of St. Pier Giorgio Frassati and St. Carlo Acutis celebrated by Pope Leo XIV. (Lola Gomez / CNS)
By Lisa Dahm
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Newly canonized St. Carlo Acutis and St. Pier Giorgio Frassati have touched young people throughout the world with their faith, humility and relatability — they were only 15 and 24, respectively, when they died.
Their impact has also been felt in Hawaii, with many young people here finding inspiration in the saints’ brief lives.
In interviews with the Hawaii Catholic Herald before St. Carlo and St. Pier Giorgio were canonized Sept. 7 by Pope Leo XIV, officials with the Diocese of Honolulu and others connected to the islands’ youth and young adult faith community described the young men’s importance to the Catholic Church.
A participant in last month’s Day of Study at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Wailuku, Maui, venerated first-class relics of young saints and soon-to-be saints, including then-Blessed Carlo Acutis. (Courtesy Lisa Gomes)
Devoted to St. Carlo
St. Carlo, a teenager who was born in 1991 and lived in Milan, Italy, was known for his faith and use of technology to spread the Gospel. He used his tech skills to evangelize and developed an online exhibition of Eucharistic miracles.
He died of leukemia in 2006 at age 15 and was noted for his joyful faith and compassion for others, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Lisa Gomes, director of the diocesan Office of Evangelization and Catechesis, said that as a saint who died less than 20 years ago, St. Carlo models for young people an opportunity for them to take their own gifts and use them to evangelize and point others toward Christ.
“For young people, Carlo Acutis is a saint who looks like them,” said Gomes. “He wore jeans and hoodies, played videogames and used the internet as many young people do today. Seeing someone so relatable become a saint makes holiness feel achievable in everyday life.”
At a recent Jubilee Year Day of Study held on Maui at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Wailuku, the featured guest speaker was Michael Edwards, a director of youth and young adult ministries for the Diocese of Salt Lake City.
He told attendees about the intercession of the saints, focusing on the lives of then-Blessed Carlo Acutis, St. Maria Goretti and St. Jose Sanchez del Rio. Edwards brought first-class relics of each, and participants had an opportunity to pray in front of each one.
Tanya Barbero, coordinator of family ministry, youth ministry and religious education at St. Anthony, said the canonizations of Sts. Carlo and Pier Giorgio offer a message of hope to young people that they matter and that they can make a difference.
“Our St. Anthony kids are in love with the Lord, in the Eucharist especially, which is why it was so amazing for them to hear this message of Blessed Carlo Acutis,” Barbero said. “Even at such a young age, there was already this spark that was lit for the love of God and a love and devotion for the Eucharist and understanding Mother Mary.
“So, this year at St. Anthony, we’re dedicating our faith formation, which includes our elementary school up to high school, to Blessed Carlo.”
Members of EPIC Ministry’s Windward group gathered Aug. 28 at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Kailua for faith sharing, which included discussion of then-Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. (Courtesy EPIC Ministry)
Aspiring ‘to the top’
St. Pier Giorgio was born in 1901 in Turin, Italy, and died from polio at 24 years old. He was known for his strong faith, his charity toward people who are poor and his fervor in spreading the Gospel. He also was a member of the Dominican Third Order and served the sick through the St. Vincent de Paul Society.
According to Kainoa Fukumoto, associate director of the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis, what made St. Pier Giorgio special was that he was like many young adults today — a college student who loved the outdoors, sports and hanging out with friends.
“His social life and adventurous spirit, however, (were) balanced by a deep commitment to a life rooted in the sacraments and service to the poor and marginalized,” said Fukumoto. “He is an example for every young adult to be bold witnesses to Christ, and his canonization gives young adults a relatable, joyful and courageous role model who shows that holiness is achievable, attractive and transformative even in the world we live in today.”
“Saints are no longer in black-and-white portraits; we can see what they look like,” said Malcolm Zara, executive director of EPIC Ministry, a community of Catholic young adults in Hawaii. “We can see what they wore. We can see where they came from and the places that they would go to. For young adults now in today’s world, that’s huge.”
Zara said he is most impressed with seeing a saint like St. Pier Giorgio living life to the fullest as a regular young adult, hanging out with friends and having fun.
“It’s a real person that we can model our lives after who modeled their lives after Christ,” Zara said. “When we do things like service opportunities, when we’re spending time in fellowship, we can see all these things as ways to become holy. By Pier Giorgio Frassati being canonized a saint, what it does is it gives hope for all of us as young adults to even more say, ‘I think I can do that, too.’”
Dallas Carter, a theology instructor and one of the founding members of EPIC Ministry, said most saints provide an idealized version of holiness that often seems unattainable by the average person — but not St. Pier Giorgio.
“Frassati was introduced to me when I was a student at Franciscan University in Steubenville,” Carter said. “We didn’t just have the story of his life, we had letters that he wrote and some of his journal entries where he talked about falling in love with different girls and how his heart was broken, and things like that. I think that what was most unique about that is you had a young adult who was really a young adult and dealt with what young adults deal with, and who enjoyed what young adults still enjoy.”
Carter said he has a poster of Frassati climbing a mountain, which the future saint signed on the original image with the words “Verso l’alto,” which means “to the top.”
Carter said Frassati created a group that would go hiking and do adventures, but he would make sure to pray the rosary with them while they hiked. On Sundays, they attended Mass first.
“He led so many people to Christ that way, and he was also not one to have to publicize what he did,” Carter said.
In 2023, EPIC Ministry chose then-Blessed Pier Giorgio and his famous saying, “Verso l’alto,” as its theme for the year. They hiked every month, complete with the rosary, and had a retreat on Hawaii island that explored Blessed Pier Giorgio’s life and ministry.
In addition to fellowship, Epic Ministry is committed to social ministry — providing food to people during the pandemic, and later raising more than half a million dollars for victims of the 2023 Lahaina wildfire as well as sending volunteers to support survivors.
“Through the inspiration of Pier Giorgio Frassati, we’re able to identify many different avenues from which we can spread the Gospel,” Zara said. “The beauty of what Pier Giorgio Frassati did could be as simple as having fun together as a young adult community, while at the same time not just having fun for the sake of fun, but using it to direct people to Jesus Christ. And I think that’s the main difference from what he did. That really opened our eyes to it.”
Reliquaries containing the relics of St. Carlo Acutis and St. Pier Giorgio Frassati stood at the foot of a statue of Mary Sept. 7 during their canonization Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. Tens of thousands of people filled the square to see the two young men be declared saints. (Lola Gomez / CNS)