Evangelizing on the Streets of Rome!

Join me in serving thousands of young people who will flock to the Eternal City of Rome this summer for the Jubilee Year of Hope and the canonization of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati! 

I and several other

JP2 Project alumni will be on the streets of Rome, serving as missionaries to minister to thousands of pilgrims. At our site, we will have the opportunity to facilitate and invite pilgrims and tourists alike to take a step out of the busy Roman streets and encounter Christ through the Sacraments and good fellowship. As I saw in 2023 at World Youth Day Lisbon, it's easy to become caught up in the hustle and bustle of the event and not have a quiet moment to meet the person of Jesus. In the little ways of offering a coffee or a place to avoid the heat of the day, we seek to invite pilgrims to listen to the message of Hope, which is at the heart of the Jubilee and, more broadly, the Gospel.

In addition to facilitating Adoration, the Holy Mass, and Confessions in multiple languages, we will be hosting talks (including one by Bl. Pier Giorgio's own niece!), fellowship activities such as dancing, and providing opportunities to encounter religious communities in our pop-up cafe! In the evenings, we will also go out to Rome's poor to break bread with them and recognize the gift that they are a son or daughter of God.

All this is a humble effort to imitate the selfless and sociable example that Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati modeled in his life. Pier Giorgio grew up in a wealthy family in Turin, Italy; rather than become caught up in his status, he spent his time as a young man making his life a complete gift to Christ. He made prayer and the sacraments the center of his life, served the poor and the working class, and advocated for religious liberty during the rise of fascism in Italy. After contracting Polio while serving the poor in his community, Frassati died at the age of 24. Pope John Paul II declared him a patron for World Youth Days and named him the "Man of the Beatitudes" for living out the words of Matthew 25 in his everyday life. Truly, this man has been a patron of mine during my college years - what a joy it is to celebrate him and strive to follow in his example!

In the words of Pier Giorgio, "I beg you to pray for me a little, so that God may give me an iron will that does not bend and does not fail in his projects." Please keep all us and the fruits of this mission in your prayers! 

St. John Paul II, pray for us! Bl. Pier Giorgio, pray for us!

“In God’s marvelous plan, Divine Providence often uses the tiniest twigs to do good works.”

– Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati

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Thanks to the JP2 Project's partnership with the Truth & Beauty Project, we’ll be hosting our events at the International Youth Center and Church of San Lorenzo, located next door to St. Peter’s Basilica, and home to the original WYD cross that John Paul II entrusted to young people on Palm Sunday of 1984!

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