It appears that with all the other Catholic youth we’ll be entertaining during Youth Week we’ll be graced by one, Pierre Giorgio Frassati. Unlike the majority of pilgrims arriving by boat, car, plane, train, or thumb, Signor Frassati will be arriving in a coffin! The reason for this curious method of locomotion is that Signor Frassati is dead. In fact he’s been dead since 1925 when he died of polio at the ripe young age of 24. As far as I can ascertain, Signor Frassati was a very handsome young man of fervent faith, robust physique and a sunny nature. His favourite sports were skiing and mountain climbing. Apparently, despite the fact that he’s been dead for 83 years his body is still in good condition. All these attributes have apparently earned for the young corpse the title of “blessed” which means that the lucky stiff is well on the way to becoming a saint. Its seems to be a lot easier to become a saint now than it was in the good old days when you had to be burned at the stake or stretched on a rack or enjoy one of the other ingenious ways in which the Mother Church punished her children when they said wicked things like “the earth isn’t flat”, or other such nonsense. Now all you’ve got to do is to stay on your knees longer than the others, have a good pair of pecs and those innocent good looks that make the sheilas go wild. Then, if you catch the eye of some influential Monsignor you’re on the way to sainthood. Who knows, you might even get free trip to Australia with the Pope!
