Pope Leo XIV declares Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati saints in a celebration of youthful devotion

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Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Sept. 7, 2025. Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, stepped forward and formally requested the pope to declare Frassati and Acutis saints. Carlo Acutis’ brother, Michele, read the first reading in English. Likewise, today, he said, “we look to Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati and Saint Carlo Acutis: a young man from the early 20th century and a teenager from our own day, both in love with Jesus and ready to give everything for him.”A nun holds images of Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati at their canonization Mass on Sept. 7. When I asked why Carlo Acutis meant so much to them, Charlotte had much to say, and I quote her answer in full:Carlo matters to me for many reasons.