The Pope Emeritus joined some 50,000 pilgrims, many of them grandparents and grandchildren, in St Peter’s Square on Sunday as Pope Francis paid tribute to grandparents.
Pope Francis warmly embraced the 87 year-old and the crowds applauded as he told them that having Benedict close by is like having “the wise grandfather at home.”
In his third public appearance since his resignation last year, the Pope Emeritus carried a cane and wore a long white cloak.
Pope Francis said that group homes for elderly with no families were OK as long as they are “not prisons.” He said that the elderly are often “forgotten, hidden, neglected,” calling that treatment tantamount to a kind of euthanasia.
Reflecting on his own age, Francis described old age as a “time of grace.” He said: “Grandparents who have received the blessing of seeing the children of their children are entrusted with a great task: transmitting the experience of life, the history of a family, of a community, of a people, sharing, with simplicity, wisdom, and faith itself — the most precious inheritance.”
He added: “A people that doesn’t take care of its grandparents and treat them well is a people with no future.”
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.