Pilgrims from Westminster Diocese travelled from London to be present in St Peter’s Square to witness Pope Leo XIV Canonise two young saints – St Pier Giorgio Frassati and London-born millennial St Carlo Acutis.
The group, led by Bishop Nicholas Hudson, was then invited by His Excellency Ambassador Christopher Trott, British Ambassador to the Holy See, to meet the Right Honourable Bridget Phillipson, Secretary of State for Education, who led a UK Government delegation to the Canonisation.
Speaking to the group at the Ambassadorial residence, Bishop Hudson told those assembled that there was much to learn from the two new saints.
“Saints Pier Giorgio and Carlo really are our teachers,” he told the group. “They teach us how to live; they teach us how to die. They teach us how to live life to the full. They teach us that the fullness of life is to be found in walking closely with Christ – with the Christ whom we meet in the sacraments and in the poor.”
“The life-plan Carlo declared to his parents after his First Holy Communion – ‘to be united with Christ, this is my life’s programme’ – captures the spirit of these two new saints.”
The group from Westminster Diocese included nine headteachers from the newly formed St Carlo Acutis Academy Trust; representatives of Westminster Diocesan Youth Ministry; and young adults accompanying Fr Allan Satur OSM, Parish Priest of Our Lady of Dolours in Fulham Road, the church in which St Carlo was baptised.
Bishop Hudson’s words to those present echoed the homily of Pope Leo XIV, who told the 80,000 pilgrims gathered in St Peter’s Square, “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.
“Dear Friends, Saint 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.”
Bishop Hudson observed a joy in the Holy Father that was shared by the pilgrims:
“As Pope Leo preached to us, there seemed to be about him a joy which reflected the joy so many of us said we had felt during this extraordinary celebration.”
Here is small gallery of images from the Canonisations of St Carlo Acutis and St Pier Giorgio Frassati.
