Exactly one year after the canonization of Pier Giorgio Frassati (7 September 2025) Portugal will honour the young mountaineer saint by naming a trail after him, which, covering a difference in altitude of 560 metres, extends in a 10-kilometre ring around the national monument of the sanctuary of Our Lady of Peneda (Santuário de Nossa Senhora da Peneda), in the municipality of Arcos de Valdevez, within the Peneda-Gerês National Park. The Italian Alpine Club, which has promoted the construction of the Frassati trails within and beyond the country, was also present with a delegation.
The program
Next Monday, prayers and Mass will be held at 9:30 a.m. Then, at 1:30 p.m., the trail will be opened with a hike along the entire route. This will officially inaugurate Portugal's international Frassati trail, organized by the Portuguese National Mountaineering Club (Clube Nacional de Monthanhismo), the first in the world to accept the invitation of the Italian Alpine Club, launched during the great jubilee of 2000, on that occasion with the inauguration of Italy's international Frassati trail in Pollone (Biella).
The goal is to achieve an international network of paths, one for each nation, of particular naturalistic, historical and religious interest named after the young man from Turin of the last century (1901-1925), who intensely loved the mountains as a gym that trains, a school that educates, a temple that elevates: a teaching that is more relevant than ever.
A communion of intent
The Portuguese Alpine Club's initiative, coordinated by José António Barros Basto, delegate of the International Union of Mountaineering Associations, was immediately welcomed with great enthusiasm and received significant organizational support from Olegário Gonçalves, mayor of Arcos de Valdevez and president of the co-management commission of the Peneda-Gerês National Park, as well as Father César Maciel, chaplain of the sanctuary of Our Lady of Pineda.
Great applause and moral support was also expressed in the Vatican by Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, prefect of the department for culture and education) who underlined how with the inauguration of the international Frassati path of Portugal “it allows a greater number of people, inspired by the life story of Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati, to approach the transcendent, through mountaineering and hiking.”
The presence of the Italian Alpine Club
The family of Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati have been invited to the international event on September 7, and the participation of Father João Evangelista Pimentel Lavrador, bishop of the diocese of Viana do Castelo, has already been announced. A CAI delegation will arrive from Italy The group is made up of Mario Vaccarella, an associate member of the central steering committee responsible for parks and the environment; Antonello Sica, creator of the Italian and international network of Frassati trails; mountaineer Paola Virginia, who facilitated contacts between Italy and Portugal; and Andrea Formagnana of the Biella CAI. "The inauguration of the first trail dedicated to Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati in Portugal," explains Vaccarella, "is within a national park. It's an area of great natural and religious significance, and the initiative takes on a strong significance, not only symbolic but also tangible and integrated into the local area, based on strong international collaboration. Having sown this seed on the Italian side, where the Frassati trails, one per region, have played a significant role in enjoying the environment for decades, including for contemplation, gives us confidence to continue in this direction."
The Frassati trail in Portugal thus becomes the first step towards an increasingly integrated international reality. The Italian Alpine Club's presence aims to affirm and revitalize this collaboration with the Portuguese Alpine Club. As the CAI's central steering committee, we thank Antonello Sica, creator of the Frassati trails, and all those who collaborated on the international initiative, especially José Antonio Barros of the Portuguese Alpine Club and UIAA delegate.
from the site loscarpone.cai.it
