Bishop, seminarians attend canonization

By DAWN PROSSER
Director of Communications
 
(Some content included courtesy of Catholic News Service.)
 
Two young Italian men were the focus of Catholics around the world last weekend. Pope Leo XIV canonized the first saints of his papacy Sept. 7 – St. Pier Giorgio Frassati and St. Carlo Acutis.
 
"Sts. 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 upward and make them masterpieces," the Holy Father said at the Mass.
 
Included in the crowd of 80,000 Catholic faithful attending the canonization Mass were Bishop John E. Keehner and diocesan seminarians Thomas Kollasch and Anthony Vera, who attend the Pontifical North American College.
Bishop Keehner provided this photo of Pope Leo praying before relics of the two saints. The bishop is in Rome for several days for the Formation Program for New Bishops through the Dicastery for Bishops and Dicastery for Evangelization. At the Mass, he was seated with bishops from around the world and just six rows behind the cardinals. 
“The Mass of canonization was an exciting event, with a crowd bigger than anything I have ever witnessed in person,” the bishop said. “I was able to see the Holy Father close up and see the clear excitement in the crowds.”
 
Kollasch said that he and Vera departed from the seminary at 6 a.m. in order to be among the first people in line at the Vatican when the gates would open at 6:50 a.m.
 
“We got seats in the second closest possible row. The canonization didn’t start until 10 a.m.,” he said, adding that they chatted with those around then and prayed as other pilgrims arrived.
 
The three said the comments from Pope Leo prior to the start of the Mass made an impact upon the thousands of faithful assembled for the event.
 
 “As it got nearer to the start time, the band and choir stopped practicing and Pope Leo XIV made an appearance in front of the altar. He just welcomed all the pilgrims, especially young people, and said he was excited to celebrate the canonization with us,” Kollasch explained. “I was struck by Pope Leo’s message of presence. He doesn’t just want to get things done when there is a big event like this. He wants to be present to us.”
 
“There was a tangible love for both of these new saints among the crowd and a tangible love for our Holy Father, Pope Leo,” Bishop Keehner described the environment around the Mass.
 Bishop's selfie with image of St. Pier Giorgio Frassati over his shoulder. In those comments prior to the Mass, the Holy Father pointed out that the canonization was a celebration “for all of Italy, for the whole church, for the whole world.”
 
"While the celebration is very solemn, it is also a day of great joy, and I wanted to greet especially the many young people who have come for this holy Mass," Pope Leo said, also greeting the families of the soon-to-be saints and the associations and communities to which the young men had belonged.
 
The actual canonization occurred at the beginning of the Mass - just after the Sign of the Cross and prior to the Gloria, Kollasch said.
 
“It was great to start off the Mass with the joy of receiving these two men as saints,” the seminarian reflected. “When Pope Leo proclaimed them saints, there were great cheers in the square, then we continued with the Mass as usual. St. Carlo Acutis’ brother proclaimed the first reading. Pope Leo preached on the example of these two holy young men. The Mass was finished by 12 p.m. when we said the Angelus together.”
 
Bishop Keehner described the Mass as “truly prayerful and spirit-filled,” and that it was an historic event that he will not forget.
 
Upon departing the Mass, the seminarians discussed “how blessed we weImage of St. Carlo Acutis above the bishops. re to have been present at this canonization and to have such good seats,” Kollasch said.
 Since the event, he felt that the church provided two new friends - Sts. Carlo and Pier Giorgio - to help him along his faith journey.
 
“The joy I experienced on Sunday was the joy of new relationships,” he said. “St. Pier Giorgio, pray for me to be a friend like you were. St. Carlo, pray for me to love Jesus in the Eucharist like you did. These two men feel like older brothers to me.”
 
St. Frassati was born April 6, 1901, in Turin and died there July 4, 1925, of polio at the age of 24. St. Acutis was born to Italian parents May 3, 1991, in London and died in Monza, Italy, Oct. 12, 2006, of leukemia at the age of 15.

HOME