WORLD DAY FOR GRANDPARENT AND ELDELY 2025: Sunday 27th July 2025 is the Firth World Day It is with great joy that we prepare to celebrate the Fifth World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, an appointment that, year after year, is entering more and more deeply into the pastoral life of our communities. This fifth edition marks a significant milestone, a sign of the growing awareness of the value of the elderly in the Church and society. This year’s theme chosen by Pope Francis, ‘Blessed are those who have not lost hope’ (cf. Sir 14:2), fits into the context of the Jubilee of Hope, and invites us to recognize in the elderly not only recipients of pastoral attention, but witnesses of hope and active protagonists of ecclesial life. Their life and faith experience is a valuable heritage, capable of enriching new generations and strengthening the community fabric. The World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, established in 2021, is becoming a tradition that teaches our communities to increasingly put the elderly at the centre, not in an extraordinary or occasional way, but in a regular and structural way. It is a pedagogy that teaches us to recognize their irreplaceable role as keepers of memory, witnesses of faith and teachers of life. This year, on the occasion of the Jubilee of Hope, we wish to emphasize one special aspect: The Father’s limitless mercy is to be experienced by all, including those who, for reasons of health or age, cannot physically make a pilgrimage. Therefore, in the pastoral directions pages you will find a simple proposal for a Jubilee celebration to be held within the facilities where the elderly live. This rite will enable them to obtain the Jubilee Indulgence, spiritually joining the universal Church and offering their sufferings and prayers.
Prayer
How beautiful are these words of yours, Lord!
Help us to continue our pilgrimage through time,
animated by the hope that comes from You!
Help us in this divisive world,
to bring the hope of communion.
Help us in this world, wounded by wars,
to bring the hope of peace.
Help us in this world, which is dehumanising,
to bring the beauty of an ancient smile.
Help us to be, for our grandchildren, for our loved ones
and for everyone we meet,
the memory of your tenderness.
Help us to bring, in a world distracted from You,
the Hope of a new life that only You can give!
For in You, Lord, nothing is lost
For in You, Lord, everything begins again! Amen