The Elderly are Present and Future
of the Church
Address to Conference: ‘The Richness
of Many Years’
January 31, 2020 16:58
“When we think of the elderly and
talk about them, especially in the pastoral dimension, we must learn to change
the tenses of verbs a little,” according to Pope Francis. “There is not only
the past, as if, for the elderly, there were only a life behind them and a
moldy archive.
“No. The Lord can and wants to write
with them also new pages, 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, they are also the future of a Church that, together
with the young, prophesies and dreams! This is why it is so important that the
elderly and the young speak to each other, it is so important.”
The Holy Father’s dramatic remarks
on the importance of the elderly came on January 31, 2020, when he addressed in
the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the participants in the First International
Congress on the pastoral care of the elderly on the theme “The richness of many
years”, organized by the Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life, and taking
place from January 29-31, 2020, at the “Augustinianum” Congress Centre in Rome.
“The ‘richness of many years’ is a
richness of people, of each individual person who has many years of life,
experience, and history behind them,” the Pope said. “It is the precious
treasure that takes form in the journey of life of each man and woman, whatever
their origins, provenance, and economic or social conditions. Life is a gift,
and when it is long it is a privilege, for oneself and for others. Always, it
is always this way.”
Pope Francis noted how the
“population pyramid” has been inverted in recent decades. In the past, the
number of children was large and the number of elderly few. Today, it is the
opposite. He stressed the need for the pastoral care of the elderly but also
suggested the important role the elderly can play in passing on the faith to
new generations.
“God has a large population of
grandparents throughout the world.,” Francis reminded listeners. “Nowadays, in
secularized societies in many countries, current generations of parents do not
have, for the most part, the Christian formation and living faith that
grandparents can pass on to their grandchildren. They are the indispensable
link in educating children and young people in 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 whom we are called to assist and protect to guard their lives,
but they can be actors in a pastoral evangelizing ministry, privileged
witnesses of God’s faithful love.”
The following is the Pope’s address
to those present, provided by the Vatican:
Dear brothers and sisters,
I cordially welcome you,
participants in the first International Congress on the pastoral care of the
elderly, “The richness of many years”, organized by the Dicastery for the
Laity, Family and Life, and I thank Cardinal Farrell for his kind words.
The “richness of many years” is a
richness of people, of each individual person who has many years of life,
experience, and history behind them. It is the precious treasure that takes
form in the journey of life of each man and woman, whatever their origins,
provenance, and economic or social conditions. Life is a gift, and when it is
long it is a privilege, for oneself and for others. Always, it is always this
way.
In the twenty-first century, old age
has become one of the distinctive features of humanity. Over a period of just a
few decades, the demographic pyramid – which once rested upon a large number of
children and young people and had at the top just a few elderly people – has
been inverted. If once the elderly could have populated a small state, nowadays
they could populate an entire continent. In this regard, the enormous presence
of the elderly constitutes a novelty for every social and geographic
environment worldwide. In addition, different seasons of life correspond to old
age: for many, it is the age in which productive efforts cease, strength
declines and the 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 work commitments.
In both situations, how can these
years be lived? What meaning can be given to this phase of life, which for many
people can be long? Social disorientation and, in many respects, the
indifference and rejection that our societies manifest towards the elderly
demand not only of the Church but of all of us, a serious reflection to learn
to grasp and to appreciate the value of old age. Indeed, while on the one hand
states must learn to face the new demographic situation on the economic level,
on the other, civil society needs values and meaning for the third and fourth
ages. And here, above all, is the contribution of the ecclesial community.
That is why I welcomed with interest
the initiative of this conference, which focused attention on pastoral care for
the elderly and initiated a reflection on the implications of a substantial
presence of grandparents in our parishes and societies. I ask that this does
not remain an isolated initiative, but that it instead marks the beginning of a
journey of pastoral exploration and discernment. We need to change our pastoral
habits in order to respond to the presence of so many older people in families
and communities.
In the Bible, longevity is a
blessing. It confronts us with our fragility, with our mutual dependence, with
our family and community ties, and above all with our divine sonship. Granting
old age, God the Father gives us time to deepen our knowledge of Him, our
intimacy with Him, to enter ever more into His heart and surrender ourselves to
Him. This is the time to prepare to deliver our spirit into His hands,
definitively, with childlike trust. But it is also a time of renewed
fruitfulness. “They will still bear fruit in old age,” says the psalmist (Ps 92:14).
God’s plan of salvation, in fact, is also carried out in the poverty of weak,
sterile and powerless bodies. From the barren womb of Sarah and the centenarian
body of Abraham the Chosen People was born (cf. Rom 4:18-20).
From Elizabeth and the old Zechariah, John the Baptist was born. The elderly
person, even when he is weak, can become an instrument of salvation history.
Aware of this irreplaceable role of
the elderly, the Church becomes a place where generations are called to share
in God’s plan of love, in a relationship of mutual exchange of the gifts of the
Holy Spirit. This intergenerational sharing obliges us to change our gaze
towards older people, 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 verbs a little. There is not only the past, as if, for the
elderly, there were only a life behind them and a moldy archive. No. The Lord
can and wants to write with them also new pages, 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, they are also the future of a
Church that, together with the young, prophesies and dreams! This is why it is
so important that the elderly and the young speak to each other, it is so
important.
The prophecy of the elderly is
fulfilled when the light of the Gospel enters fully into their lives; when,
like Simeon and Anne, they take Jesus in their arms and announce the revolution
of tenderness, the Good News of He Who came into the world to bring the
light of the Father. That is why I ask you not to spare yourselves in
proclaiming the Gospel to grandparents and elders. Go to them with a smile on
your face and the Gospel in your hands. Go out into the streets of your
parishes and seek out the elderly who live alone. Old age is not an illness, it
is a privilege! Loneliness can be an illness, but with charity, closeness and
spiritual comfort we can heal it.
God has a large population of
grandparents throughout the world. Nowadays, in secularized societies in many
countries, current generations of parents do not have, for the most part, the
Christian formation and living faith that grandparents can pass on to their
grandchildren. They are the indispensable link in educating children and young
people in 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 whom we are called to
assist and protect to guard their lives, but they can be actors in a pastoral
evangelizing ministry, privileged witnesses of God’s faithful love.
For this I thank you all who
dedicate your pastoral energies to grandparents and the elderly. I know well
that your commitment and your reflection are born of concrete friendship with
many elderly people. I hope that what is today the sensitivity of the few will
become the patrimony of every ecclesial community. Do not be afraid, take
initiatives, help your bishops and your dioceses to promote pastoral service to
and with older people. Do not be discouraged, keep going! The Dicastery for the
Laity, Family, and Life will continue to accompany you in this task.
I too accompany you with my prayer
and my blessing. And please, do not forget to pray for me.
Thank you!
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