A new church for Blessed Frassati!

Saturday, May 25, 2019, will bring full-circle the love of Blessed Frassati for the poor of Turin when a church is dedicated in his name at the Cottolengo - a place that has served the sick and needy for nearly 200 years. A portrait of Blessed Frassati will be unveiled and placed in the church, as well.

For many, this gesture is long overdue, although there has always been some presence of Pier Giorgio at the Cottolengo since the time of his death.  Two years from that day, on July 4, 1927, a new pavilion was inaugurated with his name, thanks to a generous contribution toward its construction by Alfredo Frassati.

At the time, the question arose as to whether a structure could be named for someone not yet canonized.  Cardinal Gamba of Turin, who had a great love for Pier Giorgio, intervened to say that both Blessed Cottolengo and Pier Giorgio were two great friends of the poor and two saints.  The dedication went forward.

The official name of the Cottolengo is "La Piccola Casa della Divina Provvidenza." Its founder, Saint Joseph Benedict Cottolengo, was another of Turin's great social saints. When he was a young priest, his mother was pregnant and ill with tuberculosis.  She was denied admittance to the hospital because she had an infectious disease. After her death and the death of her infant, Father Cottolengo sold what he had to rent two rooms and immediately provide care for those who were rejected by the hospitals.  Since that day in 1831, the Cottolengo has grown to an enormous complex not far from St. John Bosco's shrine. Cottolongo was beatified in 1917 and canonized in 1934.

Pier Giorgio was a frequent visitor to the Cottolengo.  He was never afraid to have contact with the sickest of the sick including those with leprosy.  It's even possible that the polio that claimed his life could have been contracted by a visit to the Cottolengo but nobody knows for sure. What is certain is that he had a great love for those who suffered and was able to see Christ in them and be Christ for them.

"I see a special light around the sick and the poor, a light that we don’t have.”
- Pier Giorgio Frassati

The timing of the dedication of the Cottolengo church is meant to reflect the recent pastoral year and Synod on Young People. By titling it for Blessed Frassati, the hope is that it will be an invitation to new generations to rediscover the authentic life of service in the style of both Saint Cottolengo and Blessed Frassati. If you are making plans to visit Turin, add the Chiesa Beato Frassati to your itinerary and be sure to say a prayer for his canonization.

Verso l'alto! ///cmw

-Update: Photos from the dedication of the church are below.  The Mass was presided over by Archbishop of Turin Cesare Nosiglio and attended by three of Blessed Frassati's nieces and one nephew.