For the first time since he canonized them last Sunday, Pope Leo has called on the example of Sts. Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati.
In his greetings to French-speaking pilgrims at the end of the general audience this September 10, the Holy Father spoke of the hope of these two youngsters, both of whom died unexpectedly after a very short illness.
Pope Leo said:
When the hour of trial comes, like the new saints Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis, let us learn from Christ the cry of hope and the desire to open our hearts wide to the will of the Father who wants our salvation. May God bless you!
The Holy Father's general audience was about Christ's final loud cry, immediately before the Gospel says he "breathed his last."
Hope to the end
Pier Giorgio died at age 24 after just a few days of illness.
Pier Giorgio Frassati's health suddenly deteriorated starting June 30, 1925, at the same time as his grandmother was dying in the same home. Gradually becoming paralyzed, he was diagnosed with polio.
However, the diagnosis came too late and possible treatment couldn't arrive from Paris soon enough. He died just four days later, on July 4, 1925, from a rapidly progressing viral meningitis caused by polio. He was buried in the family tomb in Pollone.
For his part, Carlo Acutis also fell ill and died in just a few days time.
He fell ill on October 2, 2006, but his parents initially thought it was just the flu. Less than a week later, though, his health deteriorated dramatically and he was hospitalized at the De Marchi clinic. He was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a form of cancer affecting the bone marrow.
Not even 10 days later, on October 11, 2006, he fell into a coma. The next day, October 12, the 15-year-old boy passed away.
Both youngsters had already considered death as a final triumphant step in the way they had chosen to live their lives, such that when the sudden illnesses came upon them, they accepted them with faith.
