The World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly, desired by Pope Francis, will be celebrated on 25 July. In this time of pandemic, the Pope addressed a message to grandparents and the elderly entitled "I am with you always". He assured that God continues to send 'angels' to console their loneliness and encouraged them to help build our common future: "I want to tell you that you are needed in order to help build, in fraternity and social friendship, the world of tomorrow: the world in which we, together with our children and grandchildren, will live once the storm has subsided (...) Among the pillars that support this new edifice, there are three that you, better than anyone else, can help to set up. Those three pillars are dreams, memory and prayer. The Lord’s closeness will grant to all, even the frailest among us, the strength needed to embark on a new journey along the path of dreams, memory and prayer." (read more)
The Community of Sant'Egidio, grateful to the Pope for this initiative, joins in the celebration of this feast: several hundred elderly people will take part in the Eucharistic liturgy celebrated by the Pope in St Peter's Basilica next Sunday, at 10am.
The Community will also distribute Pope Francis' message to elderly people all over Italy. The letter will be delivered in person or sent by post to several tens of thousands of elderly people in various cities, small towns and islands.
