Pope Francis has decided to institute a celebration of the whole Church on World Grandparents’ Day. Starting this year, it will take place on the fourth Sunday of July, close to the liturgical memorial of Saints Joachim and Anna, the grandparents of Jesus.
By Vatican News staff reporter
After Angelus, on Sunday, Pope Francis announced the establishment of the World Day for Grandparents and Elders, which will take place every year on the fourth Sunday in July, close to the feast of St. Joachim and Anna, the grandparents of Jesus.
Recalling the upcoming feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple – when the elders Simeon and Anna met the baby Jesus and recognized him as the Messiah – Pope Francis said: “The Holy Spirit still arouses thoughts and words of wisdom in the elders today. The voice of the elders “is precious,” he said, “because it sings the praises of God and preserves the roots of the peoples.”
The elderly, he continued, “remind us that old age is a gift and that grandparents are the link between different generations, to pass on to young people the experience of life.”
The elderly must not be forgotten
The Holy Father said that he instituted World Grandparents’ Day because “grandparents are often forgotten and we forget about this richness of preserving the roots and transmitting” what the elders received.
He stressed the importance of grandparents and grandchildren getting to know each other, because “as the prophet Joel says, grandparents seeing their grandchildren dreaming,” while “young people, drawing the strength of their grandparents, will go on and prophesy.” .
The first fruits of the Year of the Amoris Laetitia family
In a press release following the announcement, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, prefect of the Department for the Laity, Family and Life, the establishment of Grandparents and Elderly Day “is the first fruit of the Amoris Laetitia Family Year, a gift to the whole Church destined to continue in the future.” .
He added: “Pastoral care of the elderly is a priority that cannot be postponed by any Christian community. In the encyclical All brothers, The Holy Father reminds us that no one is saved alone. In view of this, we must cherish the spiritual and human riches that have been passed down from generation to generation. ”
The statement from the Dicastery mentions that Pope Francis will celebrate the first World Day by presiding at the Liturgy on Sunday evening, July 25, at St. Peter’s, subject to the health measures in force at that time. Closer to home, Dicastery “will announce other initiatives that will mark the event.”
Priorities for Pope Francis
In the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, Vittorio Scelzo is involved in the pastoral care of the elderly. He observes that the celebration of World Grandparents’ Day is related to the Days established by Pope Francis for the Word of God and for the poor. In an interview with Vatican News, Scelzo stressed that “the poor, the Bible and the elderly” are “three priorities” of Pope Francis’ pontificate, priorities that are intended to “mark the future of the Church.”
It is necessary to reduce the gap between the elderly and the younger generations, Scelzo said, adding: “The elderly are not saved alone. Unfortunately, we saw during the pandemic how many elderly people were not saved. Pope Francis wants to remind us that, similarly, “young people, adults and our society cannot be saved without the elderly,” Scelzo said. He mentioned that intergenerational dialogue is essential: “In order to get out of the crisis better and not worse, each society must reconcile with its roots and develop a new synthesis of its values, starting from the dialogue with the elderly. ”.
Old people’s dreams
Scelzo continued: “The opposite of the throwing culture is precisely pastoral care for the elderly: putting the elderly at the center of the lives of our communities every day. Not only in emergencies, not only when it is too late to do so. ”
The elders “are trees that always bear fruit and people who continue to dream.” So, young people must be “brought into dialogue with the dreams of the elderly.” Scelzo recalls that this is a message often repeated by Pope Francis. “The dreams of the elders have built our society; for example, I am thinking of Europe, a world without war. “Encyclical All brothers it is full of “this dream of a world without war.” It is the dream that “our elders, our grandparents had after the Second World War.”
“Perhaps,” concludes Vittorio Scelzo, “we need to enter into a dialogue with these dreams” in order to “understand what dreams should be for the future of our society.”