Exclusive interview with Pier Giorgio Frassati’s postulator

Silvia Correale: Because he was a very coherent young man who lived the Gospel with the radicalism characteristic of youth. At the same time, he was a normal young man: he loved sports, he had beautiful friendships that he lived in the context of his faith, he loved the mountains, he was joyful, and he devoted a lot of time to the poor. He was also socially engaged.

His way of life, that of a lay Catholic who sought to bring the Gospel into the reality of daily life, makes him very relevant in all eras. His reputation for holiness spread throughout the world, so it is not surprising that he was chosen as co-patron of World Youth Day.

Avec l'autorisation de Silvia Correale, postulatrice de Pier Giorgio Frassati.

His cause of beatification

Correale: The recognized miracle took place in Italy in 1933. It involved the healing of a man suffering from Pott's disease. The diocesan trial was held in 1989, and doctors, theologians, and bishops confirmed the inexplicability of the event. Thus, on May 20, 1990, in St. Peter's Square, John Paul II proclaimed Pier Giorgio Frassati blessed.

Correale: The process regarding Frassati’s reputation for holiness was opened in Turin on July 2, 1932, seven years after his death. In 1935, the documentation arrived in Rome. Subsequently, to clarify certain points, two additional processes were organized, one in Turin and one in Rome, in 1942. 

The cause encountered some difficulties because Pier Giorgio was a young layman: he loved the mountains, hung out with a group of friends, sometimes girls, which at the time was viewed with suspicion. Further investigation was therefore necessary, in particular to hear these witnesses. All confirmed his purity and chastity.

The miracle for his canonization

Correale: The miracle occurred in 2017 in the United States. A seminarian, while playing basketball, felt a sharp pain in his foot. He could no longer walk properly and was taken to the hospital. It was a ruptured Achilles tendon. Inappropriate care aggravated the situation and the doctors indicated the need for surgery.

The seminarian suffered for several days and began a novena to Pier Giorgio Frassati. A few days later, while praying before the Blessed Sacrament, he felt warmth in the area of the injury. He walked out normally: an inexplicable healing, since the tendon cannot regenerate on its own. The operation was no longer necessary.

We had the case examined by two Italian medical experts, both of whom agreed that it was scientifically inexplicable. The diocesan inquiry was opened in the diocese where the healing took place, in the United States, followed by the Roman phase. Then Pope Francis authorized the publication of the decree on the miracle.

Correale: Yes, since I became a postulator in 2010, I’ve studied several important cases, although reports of graces continue to reach us. Among the most significant: a child in the United States who suffered a serious head injury after an accident and was healed after invoking Pier Giorgio Frassati. The doctors didn’t unanimously consider it inexplicable, but it was an important case.

Another case involved a teenager with a tumor on his tongue who was inexplicably healed. So yes, other cases of significant healings have been reported to us.

Pier Giorgio and the pontiffs

Correale: No, but I know from a collaborator of Pope Francis that he had a special devotion to Pier Giorgio. At the beginning of his pontificate, he recounted that his father, before emigrating from Italy, had visited Frassati's tomb to pray. He was from Piedmont, like Pier Giorgio, and even at that time, the devotion of young Catholics to him was widespread.

It’s also public knowledge that John Paul II had a great devotion to him. As for Pope Leo XIV, we’ll soon hear his words in the homily of the canonization.

Correale: For me, the most significant moment as postulator was the passage of the Medical Consultation. It is always the most delicate phase, because it concerns only scientific evaluations.

When we were informed in 2017 of the seminarian's case, we collected all the medical documentation, and when the experts confirmed the inexplicability, for me, it was an immense joy.

This whole journey has also been very important to me because, while I was still a student of canon law, I was present at his beatification in May 1990 in St. Peter's Square. So I’ve always carried Pier Giorgio's cause in my heart.