The canonizations of Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati show how ordinary young men can become extraordinary witnesses of faith in a secular age, Father Sean Connolly, pastor at the Parish of Saint Margaret of Cortona in the Bronx, told Newsmax on Sunday.
“We live in a modern world that’s increasingly secular,” Connolly said on Newsmax’s “Wake Up America Weekend.” “The popular culture that our youth, our children, are raised in can be quite vulgar, and it only promotes a life with ambitions for the glorification of oneself, the mad pursuit of wealth, fame, and power.”
But the new saints, Acutis and Frassati, are two shining lights in the midst of the darkness,” he said.
“The now-saints Pier Giorgio and Carlo only lived to the young ages of 24 and 15, but with their all-too-short lives in the midst of their youth, they did extraordinary things, and they lived, putting God’s will before their own, putting others, especially the poor, before themselves,” said Connolly.
Both men, despite being born into privilege, gave their lives in service and “lived humble, generous lives, wanting to bring others to the Lord through their own normal methods,” he added.
The new saints’ ordinary interests became tools for evangelization, Connolly said.
“Pier Giorgio was an athlete, an avid outdoorsman, and they would do prayer groups on their hikes through the mountains,” he said. “Carlo loved video games and the internet, and he used those hobbies to draw others to God, building that website, you know, detailing great Eucharistic miracles to draw people to the love of God.”
Connolly also noted that Carlo’s devotion was evident even as a child.
“When he was only three years old or four years old, his parents weren’t particularly religious, but he would pull them to go to the church,” he said. “He showed so much interest in helping the poor. He would come home without his coat because he said to his mother he saw someone who was cold.”
Catholic broadcaster Teresa Tomeo, also on Sunday’s program, said the canonizations highlight how holiness transcends generations.
“It’s inspiring [to] young people, but it’s also inspiring adults,” she said, noting that Carlo’s faith brought his mother back to the church.
Tomeo said Frassati’s devotion was equally striking. His family, Catholic in name only, was surprised by the outpouring at his funeral in 1925.
“They were stunned after he died at his funeral, seeing so many people who came to say thank you to this young man who was so faithful,” she said.
She noted how similar their paths were despite living a century apart, but “they were so similar in terms of their love for the Eucharist and their love for helping the poor.”
“Both of them are inspiring not only young people, but also people of all ages, but especially that very pivotal group of the 15- to 24-year-olds to the 30s,” Tomeo added.
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