Journey of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati's Relics to WYD
The details regarding the movement of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati's relics from Italy to Australia were released today by the Vatican Information Service. Here they are:
The relics of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati (1901-1925), a student and member of the Dominican Third Order who was beatified by John Paul II in 1990, will be taken to Sydney, Australia, for the 23rd World Youth Day (WYD) due to be celebrated in that city from 15 to 20 July.
At 6 p.m. on Wednesday 18 June, Cardinal Severino Poletto, archbishop of Turin, Italy, and Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Canberra and Goulburn, Australia, will concelebrate Mass in the cathedral of Turin, where the remains of Blessed Pier Giorgio are conserved. On the same day, the relics will be transferred to the nearby town of Cottolengo where a prayer vigil will he held.
At 1.45 p.m. on 19 June, the relics will be transported from Milan's Malpensa airport to Sydney.
Pier Giorgio Frassati will, at the request of the Australian organisers of the event, be one of the ten official patrons of WYD, according to a communique released by the Pontifical Council for the Laity. The blessed from Turin is widely venerated in Australia and the presence of his relics is considered as one of the central features of World Youth Day.
On arriving in Sydney, Pier Giorgio Frassati's casket will be placed in the church of St. Benedict where, on 4 July, the saint's feast day, Cardinal George Pell, archbishop of Sydney will celebrate the Eucharist.
From 11 to 22 July the casket of the blessed will be on display in Sydney cathedral where participants in WYD will be able to come and pay their homage. The area leading to the casket will be hung with ten panels illustrating Pier Giorgio Frassati's life and thought. A prayer vigil will take place before his relics on the evening of 14 July, while from 15 to 18 July an exhibition dedicated to the blessed's life will be held in Sydney Exhibition Hall, organised by the Service for the Pastoral Care of Youth of the Italian Episcopal Conference.
-- Tim Drake
Can anyone tell me when the Blessed Pier's remains will be returned to the Cathedral in Milan?
Posted by: Laura | July 14, 2008 at 05:14 AM
I had the honor of seeing Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati's casket yesterday as I'm attending WYD. I was humbled by this amazing young man's life and aspire to start living my life as he did
Posted by: Megan | July 17, 2008 at 02:41 PM