Lenten thoughts on holiness (part 3) Review of Maria Di Lorenzo’s Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati: An Ordinary Christian (2004)

 

     In the third decade of the 20^th century, while Dietrich Bonhoeffer was embarking on the path that would eventually lead him to resist Nazism in Germany, another young, politically active Christian was resisting fascism in Italy.  Maria Di Lorenzo’s Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati: An Ordinary Christian tells the story of Bonhoeffer’s Italian Catholic contemporary, who died in 1925 at the tender age of 24.  Both Dietrich and Pier Giorgio were born into wealthy, high-status families; both of their fathers were accomplished, well-connected professionals.  Interestingly, both young men would spend time in the capital of the other’s country.  Pier Giorgio’s father, Alfredo, was appointed the Italian ambassador to Germany in 1920 and the young Frassati spent 3 months in the German capital in 1921, during which time he met Father Karl Sonneschein, “the Saint Francis of Berlin”, a prominent figure of Catholic social action in Germany.  At this point, a 15-year-old Bonhoeffer had already decided to become a theologian and would begin his university studies in 1923, the year of Adolf Hitler’s failed Beer Hall Putsch.  In that same year, Bonhoeffer visited Rome with his older brother.  Following his attempted coup, Hitler would be imprisoned and write his infamous Mein Kampf, the first part of which was published the year Pier Giorgio died.

     Something else that Pier Giorgio and Dietrich shared was the fact that their parents were either unbelievers or largely indifferent to religious devotion.  Both Dietrich and Pier Giorgio were given a conventional, nominal religious upbringing (thanks to their mothers), but their parents cannot be credited with the fact that they both determined to pursue Christ in a somewhat reckless and “rebellious”, wholehearted manner (cf. Phil. 3.7-14).  Both young men sat loose to their privileged socio-economic standing, and spent much time serving people from lower social classes.  Pier Giorgio revealed a proclivity for generosity towards the poor from a very early age; once, as a child, he gave his shoes and socks to the son of a poor woman who had knocked at the door of the Frassati home looking for a handout.  This was not the last time that Pier Giorgio would literally “give the shirt off his back” to those who needed it.  He would always give away whatever monies he received from parents and relatives.  Pier Giorgio spent much time among the destitute in the slums of Turin, taking them food and clothing and befriending these hapless people.

     What I find especially compelling about Pier Giorgio is his compassion for the poor and the marginalized, his lack of judgment of others as well as his energetic personality which pushed him to exert himself through both physical and spiritual activity.  He enjoyed mountain climbing, skiing, cycling as well as prayer, youth groups and the works of mercy.  Pier Giorgio was a man of action – as Father Martino Stanislao Gillet, superior general of the Dominicans, said of him when he became a tertiary – he was “determined to dedicate his philosophy to serving life”.  He loved God and he loved people.  Pier Giorgio was unafraid to take a stand for his convictions, even though it earned him many a black eye.  Indeed, “perfect love casts out fear” (cf. 1 John 4.18).

     Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati will be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church on August 3^rd, 2025.