We celebrate grandparents and older people
Do not cast me off in my old age.
Psalm 71
We are encouraged to celebrate the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly on Sunday, 28 July 2024. In 2021, Pope Francis asked that the day be marked each year around the feast of Sts Joachim and Anne, the grandparents of Jesus.
In his first message for the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly, with the theme “I am with you always”, Pope Francis said older people, even if “energy is running out”, have a “renewed vocation”.
“It makes no difference how old you are, whether you still work or not, whether you are alone or have a family, whether you became a grandmother or grandfather at a young age or later, whether you are still independent or need assistance,” he said.
“Because there is no retirement age from the work of proclaiming the Gospel and handing down traditions to your family. You just need to set out and undertake something new.”
In honouring our grandparents and older people, we honour their lives and experiences, and open up a richness of experience to draw upon.
The World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly provides an opportunity to more deeply celebrate the role older people have played in forming us as people and as believers.
Prayer for World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly (PDF 86.9KB)
World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly Letter from Pope Francis
The Dream of Joachim by Giotto, 1303-1305, fresco in the Arena Chapel at Padua Italy