Rome (Italy). On 23 July 2023, we celebrate the 3rd World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly, celebrated for the first time on 25 July 2021 and desired by Pope Francis on the fourth Sunday of July of each year, close to the anniversary of Saints Joachim and Anna, grandparents of Jesus.
“His mercy is from generation to generation” (Lk 1:50), is the theme chosen by the Holy Father, who in his Messagge esprime il legame con la 37th World Youth Day, a few days away (August 1-6, 2023) from the largest youth event to be held in Lisbon, Portugal on the theme “Mary arose and went with haste” (Lk 1:39):
“This year, the closeness between the celebration of the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly and that of Youth is beautiful. Both have as their theme Mary’s “haste” (cf. v. 39) in visiting Elizabeth, and thus lead us to reflect on the bond between young and old. The Lord hopes that, meeting them, young people will accept the call to guard their memory and, thanks to them, will recognize the gift of belonging to a greater history.
The friendship of an elderly person helps the young person not to flatten life on the present and to remember that not everything depends on their abilities. For the elderly, on the other hand, the presence of a young person opens up the hope that what they have lived will not be lost and that their dreams will come true”.
On Sunday 23 July, the Holy Father will preside over the Eucharistic celebration in St. Peter’s Basilica and invites parishes, dioceses, associations, and ecclesial communities from all over the world to celebrate the Day in their own pastoral context. In this regard, the Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life makes available on the site a Pastoral Kit davailable in five languages, with various materials, including the logos and the poster, the prayer for the Day, a catechesis, and the pastoral indications for living it and celebrating it to the fullest.
Furthermore, for the anniversary, the Apostolic Penitentiary, accepting the request of Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery, offers the opportunity of a Plenary Indulgence – “the remission before God of the temporal punishment for sins whose guilt has already been forgiven” (cf. CCC 1471) – “to grandparents, the elderly, and all the faithful who, motivated by the true spirit of penance and charity, will participate on 23 July 2023, in the solemn celebration that the Most Holy Father Francis will preside in the Vatican Papal Basilica, or in the various functions that will take place all over the world”.
The Plenary Indulgence is certainly also granted “to the sick elderly and all those who, unable to leave their home for a serious reason, will join spiritually in the sacred functions of the World Day, “.fering their prayers, pains, and sufferings of their lives to the Merciful God.”
Even more, in relation to the theme, ‘His mercy passes from generation to generation’, “the faithful who will dedicate adequate time to visit in person or virtually, through the media, elderly persons in need or in difficulty (such as the sick, the abandoned, the disabled …)” will be able to benefit.
To further underline the strength and blessing of the intergenerational alliance, Pope Francis concludes the Message with a twofold invitation that is a reason for renewed hope for young and old:
“To you, young people, who are preparing to leave for Lisbon or who will experience World Youth Day in your places, I would like to say, before setting off, go and visit your grandparents, pay a visit to an elderly person who is alone! Their prayer will protect you and you will carry the blessing of that meeting in your heart.
I ask you elderly to accompany the young people who are about to celebrate WYD with your prayers. Those young people are God’s answer to your requests, the fruit of what you have sown, the sign that God does not abandon His people, but always rejuvenates them with the creativity of the Holy Spirit”.
At the end of the celebration in St. Peter’s, a significant gesture will take place: five elderly people will give the pilgrim’s cross to five young people leaving for WYD in Lisbon, as a sign of the transmission of the faith.
