ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 3, 2025 / 15:08 pm
Pope Leo XIV on Friday said that old age is both a gift and a challenge, and in response the Catholic Church is called to develop missionary pastoral care that involves the elderly as witnesses of hope.
On Oct. 3, the pontiff received at the Vatican Apostolic Palace participants in the Second International Congress on Pastoral Care of the Elderly, organized by the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life.
In his address , Leo XIV emphasized that the theme of the meeting, “Your Elders Shall Dream Dreams,” taken from the book of the prophet Joel, contains words dear to his predecessor, Pope Francis, who often spoke “of the need for an alliance between young and old.”
The pontiff explained that in this biblical passage, “the prophet announce