Reverend Joseph E. Kurtz, D.D. Bishop | Archdiocese of Louisville

VATICAN CITY — Any Catholic who participates in the celebration on July 28 of the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly can receive a plenary indulgence, the Vatican announced.

“Grandparents, the elderly and all the faithful who, motivated by a true spirit of penance and charity,” attend Mass or other prayer services as part of the day’s celebration can receive the indulgence, which “may also be applied as a suffrage to the souls in purgatory,” said an announcement published July 18 by the Apostolic Penitentiary, the Vatican court charged with granting indulgences.

The Vatican stated that the indulgence also applies to those who “devote adequate time to actually or virtually visiting their elderly brothers and sisters in need or in difficulty,” such as those who are sick, lonely or disabled.

To receive a plenary indulgence, which is a remission of temporal punishment due for one’s sins, a person must show detachment from sin, go to confession, receive the Eucharist and pray for the intentions of the pope. The announcement also urged priests “to make themselves available, in a ready and generous spirit,” to hear confessions.

The indulgence is also available to “the elderly sick and all those who, unable to leave their homes for a serious reason,” spiritually join the celebrations, which will be broadcast through various media, and offer “to merciful God their prayers, pains or sufferings,” according to the Vatican.

Pope Francis celebrated the first World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly in 2021 and decreed that it be observed each year on the Sunday closest to the feast of Sts. Joachim and Anne, Jesus’ grandparents.

In his message for this year’s celebration, Pope Francis focused on intergenerational conflict issues. He called it “a fallacy and poisoned fruit of conflict.”

Dedicated to the theme “Do not cast me off in my old age” from Psalms, Pope Francis' message emphasized that older generations should not be blamed for saddling younger generations with medical expenses and pensions. This notion foments intergenerational conflict and drives older people into isolation.

“The loneliness and abandonment of elderly people is not by chance or inevitable but results from political, economic, social and personal decisions that fail to acknowledge each person's infinite dignity," he wrote.

Pope Francis encouraged everyone to express gratitude towards those who care for older persons or demonstrate daily closeness to relatives or acquaintances without other support systems.