Pier Giorgio Frassati (6 April 1901 – 4 July 1925) was an Italian Catholic activist and a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic. He was dedicated to social justice issues and joined several charitable organizations, including Catholic Action and the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, to better aid the poor and less fortunate living in his hometown of Turin; he put his own pious beliefs into practice to cater to their needs and was best known for his devotion and amiable character.
Frassati was an avid mountaineer who often climbed with his friends; he was an able swimmer and athlete best known for engaging in such social activities with a range of like-minded friends. His charitable outreach towards others knew no bounds for he identified with and aided the poor and ill from his childhood. His social status granted him greater freedom in aiding others who needed it most.
His cause for canonization opened in 1932 after the Turin poor made several pleas for such a cause to open. Pope Pius XII suspended the cause in 1941 due to a range of allegations later proven to be false, which allowed for the cause to resume. Pope John Paul II beatified Frassati in May 1990 and dubbed him the "Man of the Eight Beatitudes".
Life
Pier Giorgio Frassati was born on 6 April 1901 – Holy Saturday – to Alfredo Frassati (28 September 1868 – 21 May 1961; an agnostic who owned the noted liberal newspaper La Stampa) and Adélaïde Ametis (17 February 1877 – 18 June 1949) who was a noted painter. His only sibling – a sister – was Luciana Gawronska (18 August 1902 – 7 October 2007). His father was also active in national politics and he served in the Italian Senate before later becoming the Italian ambassador to the German nation. His parents married on 5 September 1898. His artist mother had works exhibited at an event in Venice that saw King Victor Emmanuel III purchase some of her works. His paternal grandparents were Pietro Frassati and Giuseppina Coda Canati.
Frassati's inclinations to help others had manifested in his childhood. There was one occasion as a child where he answered the door to find a mother begging with her son who was shoeless. His response was to take off his own shoes and give them to the child. In 1909 his father refused to help a man who came to their door because he was drunk. The sobbing Frassati told his mother of this and she instructed him to find the man and bring him to the home for something to eat. His first confession was heard at the church of Corpus Christi on 20 June 1910, and he received his First Communion on 19 June 1911; he received his Confirmation in his parish church on 10 June 1915.
Frassati was known as the "Terror" due to his fondness for practical jokes though they were in good taste.
He was an average student in school, though Frassati was known among his peers for his intelligence and more so for his devotion. He failed his exams in 1913 so was sent for private studies at a school run by the Jesuits.
Frassati was dedicated to works of social action that would unite people together in fellowship as a means of combating inequalities. He was an opponent of fascism and did not support the regime of Benito Mussolini. He was once arrested in Rome while protesting alongside the 1921 Young Catholic Workers Congress. He was involved with student groups as well as the Apostolato di preghiera and Catholic Action (joined in 1919) to which he dedicated himself.
Frassati also became a professed member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic on 28 May 1922 to imitate the example of Dominic of Osma, in which he assumed the religious name of "Girolamo" in honor of Girolamo Savonarola. He was also devoted to the teachings of Thomas Aquinas and Catherine of Siena. The teachings of Paul the Apostle also inspired him and that saint is mentioned in a range of Frassati's letters.