Pope Francis announced that he will canonize Blesseds Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati next year and that the Vatican will host a world meeting on the rights of the child Feb. 3.
The pope will canonize Blessed Acutis April 27, during the Jubilee for Adolescents in Rome April 25-27 and Blessed Frassati during the Jubilee of Young People in Rome July 28-Aug. 3.
The pope made the announcement during his general audience in St. Peter's Square Nov. 20, which is World Children's Day.
The annual celebration marks the date when the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959 and when the assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989.
"On the occasion of the International Day of the Rights of the Child and Adolescents that is celebrated today," the pope said he wanted to announce holding a world meeting at the Vatican.
The World Leaders' Summit on Children's Rights will be dedicated to the theme of "Let's love them and protect them," and it will include experts and celebrities from different countries, the pope said.
"It will be an occasion to pinpoint new paths directed at better assisting and protecting children still without rights who live in precarious conditions. They are exploited and abused and suffer the dramatic consequences of wars," he said.
A small group of children involved in preparing for the Feb. 3 meeting joined the pope for a photograph after the announcement along with Franciscan Father Enzo Fortunato, coordinator of the church's first World Children's Day, which was held in Rome May 25.
Pope Francis also established a new papal committee for World Children's Day and named Father Fortunato its president.
The new committee, he said, will ensure that "World Children's Day does not remain an isolated event" and that "the pastoral care for children increasingly becomes a more qualified priority in evangelical and pedagogical terms," he said in the decree, also known as a chirograph, published by the Vatican Nov. 20.
The aim of the world day, he said, is to make a concrete contribution toward carrying out "the church's commitment to children" by giving voice to children's rights and making sure the church's pastoral activities have the same kind of care and attention toward children Jesus had.
Other goals include helping the Christian community become more of "an educating community capable first of all of being evangelized by the voice of the little ones" and helping the church become more "like children" and let go of "signs of power" in order to become "a welcoming and livable home for all, starting with children," the decree said.
Pope Francis said he wants the day to be celebrated at the universal, regional, national and local levels and, therefore, the committee will help promote and organize those celebrations with the universal event held "possibly every two years."
"I entrust the preparation of World Children's Day to the regional and national bishops' conferences that will institute local organizing committees," he said.
Both soon-to-be saints, Acutis and Frassati, are beloved by many Catholic young people for their enthusiastic pursuit of holiness. The two canonizations are expected to bring many young people to the Eternal City in 2025 for the Catholic Church’s Jubilee of Hope.
Carlo Acutis: the first millennial saint
Acutis, an Italian computer-coding teenager who died of cancer in 2006, is known for his great devotion to the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
Born in 1991, Acutis is the first millennial to be beatified by the Catholic Church. Shortly after his first Communion at the age of 7, Acutis told his mother: “To always be united to Jesus: This is my life plan.”
To accomplish this, Acutis sought to attend daily Mass as often as he could at the parish church across the street from his elementary school in Milan.
Acutis called the Eucharist “my highway to heaven,” and he did all in his power to make this presence known. His witness inspired his own parents to return to practicing the Catholic faith and his Hindu au pair to convert and be baptized.
Acutis was a tech-savvy kid who loved computers, animals, and video games. His spiritual director has recalled that Acutis was convinced that the evidence of Eucharistic miracles could be persuasive in helping people to realize that Jesus is present at every Mass.
Over the course of two and a half years, Acutis worked with his family to put together an exhibition on Eucharistic miracles that premiered in 2005 during the Year of the Eucharist proclaimed by Pope John Paul II and has since gone on to be displayed at thousands of parishes on five continents.
Many of Acutis’ classmates, friends, and family members have testified how he brought them closer to God. Acutis was a very open person and was not shy about speaking with his classmates and anyone he met about the things he loved: the Mass, the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, and heaven.
He is remembered for saying: “People who place themselves before the sun get a tan; people who place themselves before the Eucharist become saints.”
Acutis died at the age of 15 in 2006, shortly after being diagnosed with leukemia. Before he died, Acutis told his mother: “I offer all of my suffering to the Lord for the pope and for the Church in order not to go to purgatory but to go straight to heaven.”
Thousands of people visited Acutis’ tomb in Assisi following his beatification in the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi on Oct. 10, 2020.
Since his beatification, Catholic schools from the Australian outback to England have been named after Acutis, as well as countless ministries and parish initiatives.
Pope Francis encouraged young people to imitate Acutis in prioritizing “the great gift of the Eucharist” in his message for the upcoming diocesan World Youth Days.
Pier Giorgio Frassati: ‘To the heights’ of holiness
Frassati, who died at the age of 24 in 1925, is also beloved by many today for his enthusiastic witness to holiness that reaches “to the heights.”
The young man from the northern Italian city of Turin was an avid mountaineer and Third Order Dominican known for his charitable outreach.
Born on Holy Saturday, April 6, 1901, Frassati was the son of the founder and director of the Italian newspaper La Stampa.
At the age of 17, he joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society and dedicated much of his spare time to taking care of the poor, the homeless, and the sick as well as demobilized servicemen returning from World War I.
Frassati was also involved in the Apostleship of Prayer and Catholic Action. He obtained permission to receive daily Communion.
On a photograph of what would be his last climb, Frassati wrote the phrase “Verso L’Alto,” which means “to the heights.” This phrase has become a motto for Catholics inspired by Frassati to strive for the summit of eternal life with Christ.
Frassati died of polio on July 4, 1925. His doctors later speculated that the young man had caught polio while serving the sick.
John Paul II, who beatified Frassati in 1990, called him a “man of the eight beatitudes,” describing him as “entirely immersed in the mystery of God and totally dedicated to the constant service of his neighbor.”
The Vatican has yet to announce the recognition of the second miracle attributed to Frassati, which made his canonization possible.
The confirmation of the miracle from the Vatican, along with the announcement of the specific date of Frassati’s canonization Mass, are expected in the future.
Carol Glatz from Catholic News Service and Courtney Mares from Catholic News Agency both contributed to this combined report.
