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To fully appreciate the extent of Blessed Pier Giorgio's political involvement, it is helpful to have an understanding of the time in which he lived. The first great world war began in Europe when he was just 13 years old. It was one of the deadliest battles of all time, lasting for four years and taking the lives of more than 16 million soliders and civilians.
Pier Giorgio's father Alfredo was the founder and editor of La Stampa - Italy's major morning newspaper. During Pier Giorgio's lifetime, there was no internet, television or regular radio transmissions. People got the news from the newspaper. This is one reason why Mr. Frassati was such an important and influential figure in those days.
As more countries took sides and entered the war, Mr. Frassati took the position in his newspaper that Italy should remain neutral and not intervene. There was great tension and political disagreement even at the level of Pier Giorgio and his teenage classmates who, on at least one occasion, actually physically fought over the positions their fathers each had taken.
Italy did join the war. When the Frassati's gardener was called into service, Pier Giorgio took a course in agriculture to be able to help during the gardener's absence. When a servant told him news about 2,000 Italian troops being attacked by the enemy, Pier Giorgio replied, "Natalina, wouldn't you give your life to stop the war?...I would, I would today."
News of the war ending came on November 4, 1918. Pier Giorgio was in Pollone and raced to the bell tower of the parish church to sound the good news. The sight of so many soldiers returning from the war wounded, unemployed and in need motivated him to join the St. Vincent de Paul Society and actively take part in providing for their needs in very tangible ways.
Although the war had ended, the political climate was still very intense with fascism on the rise. Catholics were not supposed to participate in Italian politics until Pope Benedict XV reversed this and permitted a Catholic priest and others to form the Partito Popolare Italiano (Italian Popular Party) - a party which Pier Giorgio joined somewhat to the consternation of his father.
His work with the poor through the conference of St. Vincent de Paul led Pier Giorgio to believe strongly that charity was not enough for the creation of a better world, for the elevation of the poor and working classes. The newly founded Italian Popular Party attracted Pier Giorgio as it promoted the Catholic Church's teaching based on the principles of the encyclical "Rerum Novarum." He was greatly concerned with the conditions of the working class and was so frequently present at their gatherings that they considered him a true brother.
The Church was being openly persecuted in these times, as well. Luciana Frassati writes that it was enough for someone to yell, "There's a priest on the train," to stop the train from leaving the station. Pier Giorgio never hesitated to take part in public processions and was arrested on more than one occasion. Physically strong and courageous, he hated violence but was always first in line to defend human dignity. He was willing to fight and die, if necessary, to defend Christ. War was the result of the Christian spirit disappearing from the culture, in his opinion, and so he considered his involvement in politics an act of, or extension of, his faith."Governments today are not heeding the Pope’s warning:
'True peace is more a fruit of Christian love for one’s neighbor than it is a fruit of justice,'
and they are preparing new wars for the future of all humanity. ...
Peace cannot return to the world without God."
Pier Giorgio Frassati