Greetings,
The third World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly will be celebrated this year on Sunday, 23 July 2023. Pope Francis inaugurated this World Day to be celebrated by the universal Church each July, either on or near the liturgical Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, grandparents of Jesus, to help “treasure the spiritual and human wealth that has been handed down from generation to generation”.
Pope Francis’ chosen theme for this year’s World Day is “His mercy is from age to age” (Lk 1:50), raising the relational interconnection between the old and the young.
The theme is especially fitting in light of the upcoming World Youth Day (WYD) in Lisbon, which will take place from 1-6 August 2023.
To showcase this theme, the CCCB Standing Committee for Family and Life, in tandem with its Office, produced a 30-second promotional video which captures a group of high school students visiting the elderly at a retirement home. The heartwarming interaction of old and young wonderfully represents this year’s World Day theme and inspires us to find concrete and creative ways to draw near to the elderly.