The Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life announces the first World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly under the theme “I am with you always," to be celebrated on Sunday, July 25. To further encourage the celebration of the World Day pastoral tools will be available on the website www.amorislaetitia.va
To express the closeness of God and of the church to every older person, Pope Francis has chosen “I am with you always” from the Gospel of Matthew as the theme for the first World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly on July 25, 2021. The Pope’s full message for the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly was published on June 22.
On the occasion of the First World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly, Pope Francis also grants Plenary Indulgences to grandparents, the elderly and all the faithful who participate “motivated by a true spirit of penance and charity.”
The Plenary Indulgence will be granted under the usual conditions: sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion and prayer, according to the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff during the solemn celebration he will preside over in St. Peter’s Basilica or at the various functions that will be held throughout the world. “This Court of Mercy also grants the Plenary Indulgence on this same day to the faithful who devote adequate time to actually or virtually visiting their elderly brothers and sisters in need or in difficulty (such as the sick, the abandoned, the disabled and other similar cases),” the note reads. Plenary Indulgence may also be granted to those who are unable to leave their homes for serious reasons and “unite themselves spiritually to the sacred functions of the World Day, offering to the Merciful God their prayers, pains or sufferings of their lives, especially during the transmission, through the means of television and radio, but also through the new means of social communication.”
