Grandparents in Faith: Passing on the Gifts of the Catholic Faith to Future Generations

Over the years, Pope Francis has shared a lot of wisdom about the treasure that grandparents are and the importance of their role within their family and the church. He even instated an annual World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly on the fourth Sunday in July, close to the Feast of Sts. Anne and Joachim on July 26.

Sts. Anne and Joachim are the grandparents of Christ, and thus the church has bestowed on them the honor of being the patron saints of grandparents. In one audience Pope Francis said, “They remind us that old age is a gift and that grandparents are the link between generations, to transmit to young people an experience of life and faith.”

In the Diocese of Cleveland, several ministries are recognizing the crucial role that grandparents play in the lives of their families, and these ministries are looking for ways to support grandparents as they embark on this portion of their vocational journey.

“We started talking about grandparents being a group that passes on the faith,” says Terri Yohman, Director of Family Life for the Diocese of Cleveland. “Knowing that many of our children are not in the faith, we as grandparents are looking to evangelize our grandchildren. We are trying to not only validate what these grandparents are doing but also find ways to support them.”

In recent months, several workshops have been held across the diocese to do just that.

“We have involved Fr. Damian Ference (Vicar of Evangelization), Francine Costantini (Youth Ministry Director), Mike Hayes (Young Adult Ministry Director), and Miguel Chavez (Director of Missionary Discipleship),” Terri says. “They have put together several presentations about what is going on in the youth population and give practical advice and direction for evangelizing to them. We have also given many examples of practical things that grandparents can do as well such as putting together Baptism baskets or different types of prayers they can do with their grandchildren.

These workshops have discussed talking with their grandchildren about their own faith story, even just sharing memories or photos of receiving your sacraments in the Church.

This initiative of supporting and having workshops for grandparents has recently caught the attention of EWTN. This well-known Catholic media agency interviewed Fr. Damien Ference about this initiative and even filmed one of the workshops. The diocese is working to create a format for the presentations so that parishes can take them and adapt them to be used within the parishes.

“We have also found that there is a Catholic Grandparents Association,” Terri says. “Our diocese currently does not have any chapters, but through the encouragement of these workshops, we would really like to see some parishes and parishioners take initiative and start a group.”

Across the United States, there are 2.5 million grandparents who serve as the primary caregivers and providers for their grandchildren.

“This is a whole other dynamic that we haven’t addressed yet, but we are hoping to shine a light on this as well,” Terri says.

The theme for this year’s World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly is “They shall bear fruit even in old age” (Psalm 92:15). We pray to Sts. Anne and Joachim to intercede for all grandparents as they live their lives, evangelizing their children and grandchildren.

If you would like more information on theCatholic Grandparents Association, please visitwww.catholicgrandparentsassociation.org.