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Pope Francis has announced plans to canonize Blesseds Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati next year. The canonization of Blessed Acutis is scheduled for April 27, during the Jubilee for Adolescents in Rome from April 25-27. Blessed Frassati will be canonized during the Jubilee of Young People in Rome from July 28 to August 3.
The announcement was made by Pope Francis during his general audience in St. Peter’s Square on November 20, coinciding with World Children’s Day. This day marks the adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child by the U.N. General Assembly in 1959 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989.
In addition to these canonizations, Pope Francis revealed that a world meeting on children's rights will be hosted by the Vatican on February 3. "On the occasion of the International Day of the Rights of the Child and Adolescents that is celebrated today," he stated, "I wanted to announce holding a world meeting at the Vatican."
The event, titled "World Leaders’ Summit on Children’s Rights," will focus on "Let’s love them and protect them." It aims to bring together experts and celebrities from various countries. The pope emphasized its importance: “It will be an occasion to pinpoint new paths directed at better assisting and protecting children still without rights who live in precarious conditions. They are exploited and abused and suffer the dramatic consequences of wars.”
A small group of children involved in preparations for this meeting joined Pope Francis for a photograph after his announcement, along with Franciscan Father Enzo Fortunato, who coordinated the church's first World Children’s Day held in Rome on May 25.
Furthermore, Pope Francis established a new papal committee for World Children’s Day, appointing Father Fortunato as its president. The committee's role is to ensure that “World Children’s Day does not remain an isolated event” and that “the pastoral care for children increasingly becomes a more qualified priority in evangelical and pedagogical terms,” according to a decree published by the Vatican.
The aim is to enhance “the church’s commitment to children” by advocating for their rights and ensuring pastoral activities reflect Jesus' care for children. Other objectives include fostering Christian communities as educating entities receptive to children's voices and encouraging churches to become welcoming spaces starting with children.
Pope Francis expressed his desire for World Children’s Day celebrations at various levels—universal, regional, national, and local—with support from regional and national bishops’ conferences organizing local committees.
“I entrust the preparation of World Children’s Day to the regional and national bishops’ conferences that will institute local organizing committees,” he said.
