Latest Parish News

Next Sunday, July 26 th marks the Sixth World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly.

It is also the Annual Catholic Grandparents Association Pilgrimage to Knock Shrine

with anointing of the sick at 2.30pm and Mass at 3pm followed by the procession.

This year the Pilgrimage will be led by Archbishop Eamon Martin.

But I’m very conscious that it’s even more important that this World Day, the sixth

iteration that celebrates Grandparents & the Elderly, is acknowledged and celebrated

in every diocese. Grandparents and the Elderly are the back bone of every parish.

They are people deeply committed to their faith and to the mission of the Church.

Once again on behalf of the Council for Marriage and the Family, I’m attaching the

following resources for circulation to dioceses and parishes:

1. The Message of Pope Leo XIV for the Sixth World Day for Grandparents &

the Elderly on the theme “I will never forget you” (Is. 49:15)

2. Resources offered by the Dicastery for Laity, Family & Life.

3. A Newsletter insert from the Catholic Grandparents Association regarding

Sundays Pilgrimage.

As mentioned at the June Plenary it is important that every diocese makes an effort

to emphasise the important place grandparents and elderly play in our faith

communities. The Feast of Ss Joachim and Anne determines when the day falls, this

is the first year the day actually falls on their feast day.

The Council for Marriage & the Family are encouraging as many parishes as

possible to celebrate it this year. It can all be done very simply by having an older

person leading us in God’s Word, using the Prayer of the Faithful from the Dicastery

resources, having grandparents involved in the Offertory Procession and using the

Prayer for the 6 th World Day as a Post Communion Reflection.

In his message for this day Pope Leo reflects on the theme from the prophet Isaiah:

“I will never forget you” (Is.49:15). The Lord promises that he will never forget any of

us. He says “God’s love, which forgets no one, offers itself as an act of justice and a

response to the anonymity in which human life all too often ends up lost”. He speaks

of homes where loneliness reigns and care facilities where each person’s

uniqueness risks being “being reduced to a bed number or an illness”. I encourage

you to read the letter itself (attached).

I thank you for all you will do to support the promotion and celebration of the Sixth

World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly next Sunday.

Denis Nulty

Chair of Council for Marriage & the Family