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World Day for
Grandparents and the Elderly

Lou Giorgetti


Pontificate of Pope Francis 2022
Showing Affection for the Elderly
Scott 1792

Today, Sunday, July 26, marks the sixth World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly. Pope Francis, who often spoke about the dignity of the elderly and the importance of grandparents in passing on the faith, established the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly in 2021. The stamp above, from the 2022 Pontificate of Pope Francis set, shows him with an elderly woman and is entitled "showing affection for the elderly".

On February 10, Pope Leo issued a statement through the Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life announcing the theme for this year's celebration: "I Will Not Forget You". Taken from the book of prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 49:15), the verse “is meant to emphasize how God’s love for every person never fails, not even in the frailty of old age.”

This celebration is held on the fourth Sunday in July, and this year the holiday coincides with the Feast of Saints Joachim and Anne, the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Jesus's maternal grandparents (this feast will be covered in tomorrow's Daily Email).

It should be noted that in the United States, this celebration has been moved to the first weekend after Labor Day (this year falling on September 12 and 13) to coincide with National Grandparents (and the Elderly) Day in the United States, which is the weekend that many local communities, schools, and parishes have honored grandparents and the elderly for some time.

REFERENCES:
  • United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), World Day for Grandparents and Elderly
  • Almudena Martínez-Bordiú, EWTN News, February 10, 2026, ‘I will not forget you’: Pope Leo’s theme for sixth World Day of Grandparents and Elderly
  • The Holy See website, February 10, 2026, Press Release of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life: Theme of the Sixth World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly
  • Vatican Philatelic Society website, www.vaticanstamps.org, Stamp Database Search