“How important grandparents are in the life of the family, to communicate the patrimony of humanity and faith essential for every society!”– tweeted Pope Francis yesterday, Wednesday, July 26, Memoria of Saints Joachim and Anne, parents of Mary and grandparents of Jesus, on his Twitter@Pontifex_it account.
Since his election to the Petrine throne in March 2013, the Argentine-Italian Pontiff regularly calls attention to the role of grandparents in the family and in society.
“How important is encounter and dialogue between generations, especially within the family,” he said at Rio de Janeiro on Friday, July 26, 2013. “This relationship, this dialogue between the generations is a treasure to preserve and nourish!” he added, inviting the young people taking part in the Rio WYD to greet their grandparents. “They, the young people, greet their grandparents with so much affection and thank them for their witness of wisdom that they offer us continually.”
Two years later, during the Angelus on Sunday, July 26, 2015, the Holy Father thanked grandparents with these words: “I would like to greet all the grandmothers and grandfathers, thanking them for their precious presence in families and for the new generations. We greet and give a great applause for all living grandparents, but also for those who are looking at us from Heaven.”
During the General Audience of Wednesday, March 11, 2015, Jorge Bergoglio dedicated his entire catechesis on the family to grandparents. “The prayer of the elderly and of grandparents is a gift for the Church, it’s a richness!” he said. It is also a “great injection of wisdom for the entire human society, especially for that which is too busy, too grasping, too distracted,” he added.
“How lovely is the encouragement that an old man is able to transmit to a youth in search of the meaning of faith and of life! It is truly the mission of grandparents, the vocation of the elderly. Grandparents’ words have something special for young people. And they know it,” he recalled.
