This morning after celebrating the Angelus in Rome, Pope Francis announced a World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, to be celebrated each year on the 4th Sunday of July, near the Feast of Saints Joachim and Anne, grandparents of Jesus.
Pope Francis is scheduled to preside at this year’s celebration on July 25 at Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome, subject to health guidelines.
“Grandparents are often forgotten, and we forget this wealth of preserving roots and passing on” the stories of their lives and traditions, the pontiff remarked when announcing the day.
The voice of our grandparents and the elderly is “precious…it sings the praises of God and preserves the roots of the people,” he continued, saying that these individuals “remind us that old age is a gift and that (they) are the link between the different generation, to pass on to the young the experience of life.”
The establishment of the Day of Grandparents and the Elderly “is the first fruits of the Amoris Laetitia Family Year, a gift to the whole Church that is destined to continue into the future,” said Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, in a press release.
As July 25 gets closer, Cardinal Farrell’s office will announce more initiatives surrounding the special day.
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