The Elderly
The Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life is busy building “a Church that challenges the throw-away culture with the overflowing joy of a new embrace between young and old!” (Pope Francis, General Audience, March 11, 2015).
For this reason, it fosters and supports the promotion of a pastoral care of the elderly that knows how to enhance their peculiar vocation in the Church, starting from the transmission of the faith to the youngest, from the preservation of their roots and from what can be considered the elderly’s very true specific mission: interceding in prayer.
In 2020, the Dicastery sponsored the 1st International Congress on the Pastoral Care of the Elderly entitled "The Richness of Many Years of Life," the proceedings of which were published in an e-book downloadable for free from this website.
Since 2021, the Dicastery has been promoting the celebration of World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly.
News
The Elderly
Press conference for the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly and the Holy Father’s Message
"After such a difficult year there is a great need to celebrate, together, grandparents and grandchildren, young and old." With these words, Card. Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery for the ...
Press Release
Theme for the First World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly
Sunday 25 July will see the celebration of the First World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly. The theme chosen by the Holy Father for this World Day is “I am with you always” (cf. Mt 28:20) which ...
Elderly
Gabriella Gambino gives a talk at a COMECE seminar on The elderly and the future of Europe
On 1 March, Professor Gabriella Gambino, Undersecretary of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, took part in a webinar on the subject of “The Elderly and the Future of Europe”. It was held on an ...