Vatican, 12 May 2021

Dear Sir or Madam,

As you may know, the Holy Father has chosen to institute a World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, to be celebrated throughout the Church every year on the fourth Sunday of July, close to the memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, the grandparents of Jesus. The theme of this first World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly will be “I am with you always” (cf. Mt 28:20). Its purpose is to convey to every elderly person that God and the Church are close to them, and also to emphasise intergenerational closeness between young and old. Significantly, this year 2021 we will celebrate it on Sunday 25 July, the midpoint of the Amoris Laetitia Family Year that has just begun, which is dedicated to a rereading and appreciation of the many recommendations contained in the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia five years after its publication. The close bond that grandparents and the elderly share with the family is all too clear. Grandparents and the elderly are indispensable for the family, being one of its essential elements and offering it a human and spiritual wealth of great value.

The elderly today account for a significant portion of God’s faithful and holy people, not only in numerical terms. The Holy Father’s decision to dedicate a special day to them is supposed to underline the importance of adequate pastoral attention to help them make the most use of their spiritual resources. Moreover, the health emergency we have been experiencing for more than a year has hit the elderly particularly hard, and this calls on each of our communities to clearly show the elderly that the Church is close to them.

On the occasion of the First World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly, if the health crisis allows, the Holy Father will preside at Holy Mass in the Vatican. In addition, we invite every international association of the faithful, ecclesial movement and new community to inform all of their own members of this event, and to find ways that are best suited to the integration of this event into their own pastoral activities.

This World Day could be a great coming-together of grandparents and grandchildren, the young and the old. To this end, from mid-June the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life will make available a series of pastoral tools that we will send to you. They will also be available on the website dedicated to the Amoris Laetitia Family Year www.amorislaetitia.va. A message from the Holy Father in preparation for this World Day will also be published.

In the hope that the celebration of this World Day will be an opportunity to convey to our grandparents and elderly people the closeness of the Church in these difficult times, I send you cordial greetings in the Risen Christ.

Kevin Card. Farrell Prefect