ROME – Pope Leo XIV Sunday canonized two young men who arguably encapsulate different aspects of his own papacy, and who the church hopes can speak broadly to a younger generation of Catholics eager for new role models.

In a Mass celebrated Sept. 7 in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Leo proclaimed Italian laity Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati saints, in the presence of members of their families and official delegations from Italy, Great Britian, Poland and the Order of Malta. Some 1,700 priests, 36 cardinals and 270 bishops also took part in the ceremony.

In his homily, Leo recalled the realization of King Solomon in the day’s first reading that the wisdom of God was more valuable than all of the wealth and beauty that he possessed.

“The greatest risk in life is to waste it outside of God’s plan,” he said, saying, this is a plan “to which we must commit wholeheartedly.”

“In this setting, today 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,” the pope said.

Both Acutis and Frassati are not only relevant for contemporary Catholicism due to their appeal to younger generations, but also because they reflect Leo’s own commitment to social action and dialogue with the world of technology.

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Frassati, an Italian Catholic activist and a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic, was born on April 6, 1901, in Turin into a wealthy agnostic family.

Early on in life, he was drawn to the faith and to service of the poor, gaining a reputation for his intense and active prayer life, as well as his great love of the outdoors, especially hiking and mountain climbing.

Described by friends as “an explosion of joy,” Frassati attended a Jesuit school and joined various faith groups as an adolescent, including Catholic Action. He was also known as an avid sportsman and as a lover of the arts, including theater, opera, museums, and poetry.

Pope Leo, known for his social action as both a missionary and a bishop and who maintained a gym membership until his election earlier this year, said Frassati “bore witness to God with his joy of living and of being a Christian in prayer, friendship and charity.”

He recalled how Frassati would often be seen walking through the streets with carts of supplies for the poor that came to be known as the Frassati Impresa Trasporti, or the “Frassati Transport Company.”

“Even today, Pier Giorgio’s life is a beacon for lay spirituality. For him, faith was not a private devotion, but it was driven by the power of the Gospel and his membership in ecclesial associations,” Leo said.

Perhaps most noteworthy for Leo is that Frassati was deeply devoted to Catholic social teaching and service to the poor through social activism, eventually joining the Italian Catholic “People’s Party,” based on the principles of Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum.

Notably, Pope Leo XIV said shortly after his election that he chose his papal name in honor of his predecessor Leo XIII and Rerum Novarum, which outlined the church’s modern social doctrine, given the new revolution of artificial intelligence and the impact it could have on the workforce.

In 1922, Frassati joined the Lay Dominicans. Soon after, shortly before receiving his degree as a mining engineer, he contracted polio, which his doctors believed was due to his tending to the sick in the slums.

He died July 4, 1925, at the age of 24, using some of his final moments to scribble a note asking a friend to take medicine to a poor man. In 1981, his remains were found to be incorrupt, meaning they had not decomposed, and his body was transferred from the family tomb to the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin.

At his beatification in 1990, St. John Paul II referred to Frassati as the “Man of the Eight Beatitudes.”

Acutis is also a reflection of Leo’s desire to make dialogue with the world of technology and artificial intelligence a priority, in that he has come to be known as the “techie saint.”

Born to Italian parents in London in 1991, Acutis spent most of his life in Milan but loved to visit Assisi, where he is now buried. He is most widely known for his expertise in computer technology, spending much of his spare time designing an online exhibition about Eucharistic miracles around the world that is still a point of reference for Catholics around the world.

Pope Leo applauded the fact that Acutis “encountered Jesus in his family, thanks to his parents… and then at school, and above all in the sacraments celebrated in the parish community.”

“He grew up naturally integrating prayer, sport, study and charity into his days as a child and young man,” the pope said.

Given his young age and knack for computers, Acutis has been presented as a role model for youth, a “saint of the ordinary,” and also a possible patron saint for IT workers. He died from an aggressive form of leukemia in 2006, at age 15, and his cause for canonization was opened in 2013. He was beatified by Pope Francis in 2020.

In Christus Vivit (“Christ Lives”), Pope Francis’s exhortation on young people, he called Acutis a role model for contemporary young people who are frequently tempted by the illusions of “self-absorption, isolation and empty pleasure.”

Acutis was originally slated to be canonized in April and Frassati earlier this summer. That process was interrupted when Pope Francis died just a week ahead of Acutis’s scheduled canonization Mass during a special Jubilee for Adolescents in late April.

Given their respective backgrounds, and the fact that they reflect two of the core priorities of Pope Leo – social action and dialogue with the world of technology, as well as their appeal to youth – it is noteworthy that the two were ultimately canonized together, in Leo’s first official canonization of his papacy.

The act is highly symbolic at the start of Leo’s papacy, coming just four months after his election on May 8, and signals two pillars of his pontificate that are beginning to take shape.

Leo XIV said both Acutis and Frassati had a faith that is easily accessible, as they each “cultivated their love for God and for their brothers and sisters through simple acts, available to everyone: daily Mass, prayer, and especially Eucharistic Adoration.”

“Both had a great devotion to the saints and to the Virgin Mary, and they practiced charity generously,” he said, saying that even when illness struck them at such a young age, “not even this stopped them nor prevented them from loving, offering themselves to God, blessing him and praying to him for themselves and for everyone.”

“Saints Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis are an invitation to all of us, especially young people, not to squander our lives, but to direct them upwards and make them masterpieces,” he said.

Both Acutis and Frassati put God at the center of their lives, and put others ahead of themselves, Pope Leo said, saying, “This is the simple but winning formula of their holiness. It is also the type of witness we are called to follow, in order to enjoy life to the full and meet the Lord in the feast of heaven.”

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