The Catholic Church, through the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life, presided over by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, has recently renewed the invitation to celebrate the III World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly this Sunday, July 23, in all the dioceses of the world, with a Mass dedicated to them and by visiting grandparents and the elderly who are alone.
In addition, the following will be granted plenary indulgence to those who perform these gestures, in accordance with a decree of the Apostolic Penitentiary, released on July 5, has informed the official Vatican agency.
The Vatican Dicastery encourages all dioceses to promote various initiatives to commemorate this feast, instituted by the Holy Father Francis in 2021. One example of such celebrations, among the many that will take place around the world, is that of the Brazilian Bishops' Conference, which has organized the celebration of a Mass and various activities with the elderly at the Sanctuary of Aparecida (Brazil), as transmitted by the Dicastery.
In the same vein, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has released a video inviting young people to visit to the elderly in nursing homes. Likewise, the Local Organizing Committee of WYD Lisbon has joined the invitation of Pope Francis, launching two initiativesPromote a prayer chain of grandparents and elders to accompany the young people leaving for Lisbon, and a challenge on social networks inviting all young people to visit their grandparents before the day and take a photo or video with them.
The Pope at St. Peter's with 6,000 grandparents and the elderly
The heart of this World Day of Grandparents and the ElderlyThis year's theme, "His mercy extends from generation to generation" (Lk 1:50), will be the Holy Mass presided by Pope Francis at 10:00 a.m. inside St. Peter's Basilica.
The Mass will be attended by more than 6,000 people, including many elderly people from all over Italy: grandparents accompanied by their grandchildren and families, elderly people living in residences, as well as many elderly people involved in parish, diocesan and associative life, according to the note made public.
Transmission of faith from elders to youth (WYD)
At the end of the celebration, five older people - representing the five continents - will symbolically present the Pilgrim Cross of World Youth Day (WYD).WYDW) to five young people leaving for Lisbonmeaning the transmission of faith "from generation to generation"..
The gesture of sending also represents the commitment that the elderly and grandparents have accepted, at the invitation of the Holy Father, to pray for the young people who are leaving and to accompany them with their blessing.To all the participants in the celebration at St. Peter's, the Diocese of Rome will deliver the prayer of the III World Day and the message of Pope Francis to the grandparents and the elderly.
In its message for this year's World Youth Day, Pope Francis invites to make some concrete gesture to embrace the grandparents and the elderly. "Let us not leave them alone, their presence in families and communities is precious, it gives us the awareness of sharing the same heritage and of being part of a people in which the roots are preserved," writes the Holy Father.
