Care and respect for grandparents and the elderly have been important pillars of Francis' pontificate. And his respect for them came from his early childhood.
"I was born, and my paternal grandparents lived a few meters from home," Pope Francis said. "And a few months later, my mother had her second child. So my grandmother would come in the morning and take me with them so mom could work with the second one and get ready for the other three that had to come, right? There are five of us.
"I had the deepest conversations with them. As a kid listening, that's where I learned values. And that's the feeling that you always have to go back to your roots, right?"
The Pope has continued to place an emphasis on grandparents and the elderly throughout his papacy. In 2021, he instituted World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly. This year, the third edition falls on Sunday, July 23, with the theme, “His mercy is from age to age.”
Pope Francis will preside over a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at 10 a.m. with more than 6,000 pilgrims, including many elderly and grandparents from around the world.
At the end of the celebration, five elderly people—representing the five continents—will symbolically hand over the World Youth Day Pilgrim's Cross to five young people leaving for Lisbon. It will symbolize passing on the faith “from age to age” -- a gift the Pope has spoken about before.
"They remind us that old age is a gift and that grandparents are the link between generations, passing on the experience of life and faith to the youth" he said. "Grandparents are often forgotten, and we forget the richness of preserving our roots and of passing them on."
People around the world are taking up the pope's challenge to spend time with their grandparents or the elderly. For example, the Canadian Bishops' Conference released a video encouraging young people to visit the elderly in nursing homes.