At 12:15pm today local time (6:15am EST), inside the Sala Regia at the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father, Pope Francis received in audience those who are participating in the First International Congress for the pastoral care of the elderly. The theme of this encounter is The wealth of the years. It was organized by the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life and has been taking place from 29 to 31 January at the Augustinianum Congress Centre in Rome.
Dear brothers and sisters,
I cordially welcome you, participants in the first International Congress for the pastoral care of the elderly - The wealth of the years -, organized by the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life; and I thank Cardinal Farrell for his kind words.
The wealth of the years is the wealth of people, of every single person who has many years of life, the experience and history behind them. It is the precious treasure that takes shape in the journey of the life of every man and woman, whatever their origins, their history, their economic or social conditions. Since life is a gift, and when it is long it is a privilege, for oneself and for others. Always; it is always like this.
In the 21st century, old age has become one of humanity's hallmarks. Within a few decades, the demographic pyramid - which once rested on a large number of children and young people and had few elders at its top - has reversed. If the elders could once populate a small state, today they could populate an entire continent. In this sense, the huge presence of the elderly constitutes a novelty for every social and geographical environment in the world. Furthermore, old age today corresponds to different seasons of life: for many it is the age in which the productive commitment ceases, physical strength declines and signs of illness, the need for help and social isolation appear; but for many it is the beginning of a long period of psycho-physical well-being and freedom from working obligations.
In both situations, how can you live these years? What sense can you give to this phase of life, which for many can be long? The social disorientation and, in many ways, the indifference and rejection that our societies manifest towards the elderly, call not only the Church, but all of us, to a serious reflection about learning to grasp and appreciate the value of old age. In fact, while, on the one hand, states must face the new demographic situation on the economic level, on the other, civil society needs values and meanings for the third and fourth age. And here above all the contribution of the ecclesial community is placed.
This is the reason why I welcomed with interest the initiative of this conference, which focused attention on pastoral care for the elderly and started a reflection on the implications deriving from a conspicuous presence of grandparents in our parishes and in societies. I ask that this does not remain an isolated initiative, but that it marks the beginning of a path of pastoral deepening and discernment. We need to change our pastoral habits in order to be able to respond to the presence of many elderly people in families and communities.
In the Bible, longevity of life is a blessing. It confronts us with our fragility, with mutual dependence, with our family and community ties, and above all with our divine sonship. By granting old age, God the Father gives time to deepen the knowledge of Him, intimacy with Him, an opportunity to enter more and more into His heart and to abandon ourselves to Him. It is the time to prepare to hand our spirit definitively into his hands. with child-like trust. But it is also a time of renewed fruitfulness. In old age they will still bear fruit, says the psalmist (Ps 91: 15). Indeed, God's plan of salvation is also carried out in the poverty of weak, sterile and impotent bodies. From the barren womb of Sarah and from the hundred-year-old body of Abraham, the chosen people were born (cf Rom 4: 18-20). John the Baptist was born from Elizabeth and the old Zechariah. The elderly, even when they are weak, can become instruments of salvation history.
Aware of this irreplaceable role of the elderly, the Church becomes a place where generations are called to share God's plan of love, in a relationship of mutual exchange of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This intergenerational sharing forces us to change our gaze towards the elderly, to learn to look to the future together with them.
When we think of the elderly and talk about them, especially in the pastoral dimension, we must learn to change the tenses of the verbs a little. There is not only the past, as if, for the elderly, there was only one life behind them and a moldy archive. No. The Lord can also write new pages, and He wants to write new pages with them, pages of holiness, of service, of prayer ... Today I would like to tell you that the elderly are also the present and the future of the Church. Yes, I am also the future of a Church which, together with young people, prophesies and dreams! This is why it is so important that the elderly and young people talk to each other, it is very important.
The prophecy of the elders is realized when the light of the Gospel fully enters their lives; when, like Simeon and Anna, they take Jesus in their arms and proclaim the revolution of tenderness, the Good News of Him who came into the world to bring us the light of the Father. This is why I ask you not to spare yourself in proclaiming the Gospel to grandparents and to the elderly. Go out to meet them with a smile on your face and the Gospel in your hands. Go out into the streets of your parishes and go looking for the elderly who live alone. Old age is not a disease, it is a privilege! Loneliness can be a disease, but with charity, closeness and spiritual comfort we can heal it.
God has a large number of grandparents everywhere in the world. Nowadays, in the secularized societies of many countries, the current generations of parents do not have, for the most part, that Christian formation and that living faith, which grandparents can instead transmit to their grandchildren. Grandparents are the indispensable link for educating children and young people to the faith. We must get used to including them in our pastoral horizons and to considering them, in a non-episodic way, as one of the vital components of our communities. They are not only people we are called to assist and protect, to protect their lives, but they can be actors in an evangelizing pastoral ministry, privileged witnesses of God's faithful love.
For this reason, I thank all of you who dedicate your pastoral energies to grandparents and to the elderly. I know very well that your commitment and your reflection arise from concrete friendship with many elderly people. I hope that what is today the sensitivity of a few becomes the patrimony of every ecclesial community. Do not be afraid, take initiatives, help your Bishops and your Dioceses to promote pastoral service to the elderly and with the elderly. Don't get discouraged, keep going! The Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life will continue to accompany you in this work.
I too am accompanying you with my prayer and my blessing. And you, please, don't forget to pray for me. Thank you!
Testo originale nella lingua italiana
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
offered to participants taking part in the
first International Congress for the
pastoral care of the elderly
Dear brothers and sisters,
I cordially welcome you, participants in the first International Congress for the pastoral care of the elderly - The wealth of the years -, organized by the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life; and I thank Cardinal Farrell for his kind words.
The wealth of the years is the wealth of people, of every single person who has many years of life, the experience and history behind them. It is the precious treasure that takes shape in the journey of the life of every man and woman, whatever their origins, their history, their economic or social conditions. Since life is a gift, and when it is long it is a privilege, for oneself and for others. Always; it is always like this.
In the 21st century, old age has become one of humanity's hallmarks. Within a few decades, the demographic pyramid - which once rested on a large number of children and young people and had few elders at its top - has reversed. If the elders could once populate a small state, today they could populate an entire continent. In this sense, the huge presence of the elderly constitutes a novelty for every social and geographical environment in the world. Furthermore, old age today corresponds to different seasons of life: for many it is the age in which the productive commitment ceases, physical strength declines and signs of illness, the need for help and social isolation appear; but for many it is the beginning of a long period of psycho-physical well-being and freedom from working obligations.
In both situations, how can you live these years? What sense can you give to this phase of life, which for many can be long? The social disorientation and, in many ways, the indifference and rejection that our societies manifest towards the elderly, call not only the Church, but all of us, to a serious reflection about learning to grasp and appreciate the value of old age. In fact, while, on the one hand, states must face the new demographic situation on the economic level, on the other, civil society needs values and meanings for the third and fourth age. And here above all the contribution of the ecclesial community is placed.
This is the reason why I welcomed with interest the initiative of this conference, which focused attention on pastoral care for the elderly and started a reflection on the implications deriving from a conspicuous presence of grandparents in our parishes and in societies. I ask that this does not remain an isolated initiative, but that it marks the beginning of a path of pastoral deepening and discernment. We need to change our pastoral habits in order to be able to respond to the presence of many elderly people in families and communities.
In the Bible, longevity of life is a blessing. It confronts us with our fragility, with mutual dependence, with our family and community ties, and above all with our divine sonship. By granting old age, God the Father gives time to deepen the knowledge of Him, intimacy with Him, an opportunity to enter more and more into His heart and to abandon ourselves to Him. It is the time to prepare to hand our spirit definitively into his hands. with child-like trust. But it is also a time of renewed fruitfulness. In old age they will still bear fruit, says the psalmist (Ps 91: 15). Indeed, God's plan of salvation is also carried out in the poverty of weak, sterile and impotent bodies. From the barren womb of Sarah and from the hundred-year-old body of Abraham, the chosen people were born (cf Rom 4: 18-20). John the Baptist was born from Elizabeth and the old Zechariah. The elderly, even when they are weak, can become instruments of salvation history.
Aware of this irreplaceable role of the elderly, the Church becomes a place where generations are called to share God's plan of love, in a relationship of mutual exchange of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This intergenerational sharing forces us to change our gaze towards the elderly, to learn to look to the future together with them.
When we think of the elderly and talk about them, especially in the pastoral dimension, we must learn to change the tenses of the verbs a little. There is not only the past, as if, for the elderly, there was only one life behind them and a moldy archive. No. The Lord can also write new pages, and He wants to write new pages with them, pages of holiness, of service, of prayer ... Today I would like to tell you that the elderly are also the present and the future of the Church. Yes, I am also the future of a Church which, together with young people, prophesies and dreams! This is why it is so important that the elderly and young people talk to each other, it is very important.
The prophecy of the elders is realized when the light of the Gospel fully enters their lives; when, like Simeon and Anna, they take Jesus in their arms and proclaim the revolution of tenderness, the Good News of Him who came into the world to bring us the light of the Father. This is why I ask you not to spare yourself in proclaiming the Gospel to grandparents and to the elderly. Go out to meet them with a smile on your face and the Gospel in your hands. Go out into the streets of your parishes and go looking for the elderly who live alone. Old age is not a disease, it is a privilege! Loneliness can be a disease, but with charity, closeness and spiritual comfort we can heal it.
God has a large number of grandparents everywhere in the world. Nowadays, in the secularized societies of many countries, the current generations of parents do not have, for the most part, that Christian formation and that living faith, which grandparents can instead transmit to their grandchildren. Grandparents are the indispensable link for educating children and young people to the faith. We must get used to including them in our pastoral horizons and to considering them, in a non-episodic way, as one of the vital components of our communities. They are not only people we are called to assist and protect, to protect their lives, but they can be actors in an evangelizing pastoral ministry, privileged witnesses of God's faithful love.
For this reason, I thank all of you who dedicate your pastoral energies to grandparents and to the elderly. I know very well that your commitment and your reflection arise from concrete friendship with many elderly people. I hope that what is today the sensitivity of a few becomes the patrimony of every ecclesial community. Do not be afraid, take initiatives, help your Bishops and your Dioceses to promote pastoral service to the elderly and with the elderly. Don't get discouraged, keep going! The Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life will continue to accompany you in this work.
I too am accompanying you with my prayer and my blessing. And you, please, don't forget to pray for me. Thank you!
Testo originale nella lingua italiana
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