Catherine Wiley founder of The CGA interviewed by EWTN

Catholic Grandparents overjoyed at Dublin venue for World Meeting of Families 2018

‘Grandparents will be out in force for Pope Francis’

The Catholic Grandparents Association (CGA) has welcomed news that Dublin is to be the venue for the 2018 World Meeting of Families and expressed the hope that Pope Francis will travel to Ireland for the event.

Speaking this week on her return from Philadelphia, USA, where she represented the CGA at the World Meeting of Families, Catherine Wiley, the association’s founder said:

“It is very exciting and encouraging that the next meeting of the World Meeting of Families will be in Ireland. The Grandparents will be out in force to welcome Our Holy Father, and I feel sure he will not miss this opportunity to meet us.”

Having met Pope Francis during his recent US visit, Mrs Wiley added that “the Pontiff clearly recognises the importance of grandparents and constantly affirms them”.

During the Philadelphia event, Mrs Wiley addressed the gathering on ‘Loving through the generations: Grandparents and Great Grandparents’ and received a standing ovation when she said:

“Grandparents are more than ever, a source of support in the faith and care of children…Grandparents offer stability for the family, especially as their faith becomes an anchor of strength for others.

“Pope Francis recently insisted himself upon this unique importance of grandparents to help pass on the faith, and creating a Christian atmosphere in family homes.

Parents! Grandparents! We must rise to the calling which God has given to each family. Our Homes must be places where the story of our faith is taught; where prayer and holy images invoke, in word and deed, the love and graces of God.”

Catherine Wiley being interviewed by EWTN

Catherine Wiley (2nd left) with workers and representatives of the CGA on the association’s stand in Philadelphia.

CGA founder Catherine Wiley with Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, pictured during the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, USA.