Pope Francis took to Twitter recently to address the upcoming World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly and emphasize the significance of honoring the elderly. 

“The elderly entrust the past to the present in order to construct the future. Let us honor them, neither depriving ourselves of their company nor depriving them of ours,” the pontiff said in his tweet. “May we never allow the elderly to be cast aside!” 

This year, World Grandparents Day is scheduled for July 23. It will be the third celebration of the event, the Vatican News said in a report. Pope Francis established the event in 2021, designated to be celebrated annually on the fourth Sunday of July. This specific date was chosen as it falls close to the Feast Day of St. Anne and St. Joachim, who were the parents of Mary and therefore considered to be the grandparents of Jesus. The Feast Day of St. Anne and St. Joachim takes place on July 26, the Vatican News report added.

The primary objective of the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly is to ensure that grandparents and the elderly are aware of their value and significance, addressing the fact that they often feel neglected or marginalized. Pope Francis, in a message pertaining to the occasion, highlighted the theme for this year: "His mercy is from age to age." The pope emphasized the significance of intergenerational connections, stressing the importance of the younger generation forming relationships with the elderly, the Holy See said in a statement. 

"The Holy Spirit, who had earlier descended upon Mary, prompted her to respond with the Magnificat, in which she proclaimed that the Lord’s mercy is from generation to generation," Pope Francis said in his message that the Vatican conveyed. "That same Spirit blesses and accompanies every fruitful encounter between different generations: between grandparents and grandchildren, between young and old. God wants young people to bring joy to the hearts of the elderly, as Mary did to Elizabeth, and gain wisdom from their experiences. Yet, above all, the Lord wants us not to abandon the elderly or to push them to the margins of life, as tragically happens all too often in our time.

"The World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly is meant to be a small but precious sign of hope for them and for the whole Church,” the pontiff continued. "I renew my invitation to everyone – dioceses, parishes, associations and communities – to celebrate this day and to make it the occasion of a joyful and renewed encounter between young and old."