Here's a video recording of our 'Catholic News' podcast on grandparents and the elderly.
We caught up with Bishop David Oakley for this podcast, via Zoom, to talk about the inaugural World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly.
Bishop Oakley, the Chair of the Bishops’ Committee for Marriage and Family Life, praises the elderly for their witness of faith and long fidelity to the Catholic Church.
He also talks about the value of the older generation both to the Church and wider society and the huge contribution they make through their prayers:
“I always used to call the elderly in my parish community the ‘intensive prayer units’! When I went to visit them with Holy Communion, they would ask about the parish and I would say, well, could you pray for so-and-so? She’s not doing very well at the moment or could you pray for the so-and-so family? And I have no doubt they did.
“So just to encourage them to realise that they have so much to contribute to the church, even if they’re not able to get to mass anymore, they can still play a huge role within the body of Christ through their prayerful intercession.”
You can find the full podcast here.
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British Sign Language (BSL) version.
