Pier Giorgio Frassati was an extraordinary Catholic young man who immersed himself in the struggle for human dignity that defined the 20th century. When he died at the age of 24, the streets were flooded with people who mourned his early death, and it was the poor people whom he served who took up the cause of his canonization.

He was born in 1901 in Turin, Italy, to a wealthy and prestigious family who owned a newspaper; his father was named Italian ambassador to Germany. Pier was an average student and an excellent athlete. His passions included mountain climbing and playing practical jokes—his many friends called him "the Terror.”

As a young man, he threw himself into social action on behalf of the Catholic faith: he served the poor, prayed, and built community. Pier gave his efforts to a number of groups who worked for justice and spread Eucharistic piety and Marian devotion. Pier would give away any spending money he had—he would even offer his fare for the train to a poor person and would walk home instead.

He started a newspaper that took seriously the principles in Pope Leo XIII’s famous encyclical about the dignity of human labor and the rights of workers, Rerum Novarum. “Charity is not enough,” he would say. “We need social reform.”

When Church leaders organized a demonstration in Rome against fascism, he helped lead the crowd. Police began to suppress the protest with violence and knocked the lead banner from someone’s hands. Pier grabbed the banner and, holding it higher, used the pole to fend off other attacks. He and other demonstrators were arrested. He could have received special treatment because of his father’s position, but he refused and stayed with his friends in jail.

One night after his release, fascist supporters broke into his family’s house and tried to attack Pier and his father, but Pier repelled them and chased them out into the street with his bare hands.

He died on this date in 1925 after contracting an illness from his efforts serving the poor and sick. When his tomb was moved to the cathedral in Turin in 1981, it was discovered that no decay had corrupted his body.

Pope St. John Paull II beatified Pier Giorgio Frassati in 1990, and called him "the Man of Eight Beatitudes." “By his example he proclaims that a life lived in Christ's Spirit, the Spirit of the Beatitudes, is ‘blessed,’ and that only the person who becomes a man or woman of the Beatitudes can succeed in communicating love and peace to others,” the pope said at his beatification Mass. “He repeats that it is really worth giving up everything to serve the Lord. He testifies that holiness is possible for everyone, and that only the revolution of charity can enkindle the hope of a better future in the hearts of people.”

Pier’s story and image are used by high school students who come to campus for a summer conference with the Notre Dame Vision program; illustration by Julie Lonneman and used with permission. His photograph is used here with permission from Catholic.org.

Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, you were the young man who fought fascism and poverty with your bare hands--pray for us!