Friday 26th July 2013 

Catholic Grandparents Association will be launched in the Philippines today the Feast of Saints Joachim and Anne

Details of 2013 Grandparents pilgrimage to Knock Shrine announced Vatican to be represented at this year’s Irish pilgrimage

Irish grandmother Catherine Wiley, founder of the Catholic Grandparents Association is attending the official launch of the Catholic Grandparents Association in the Philippines at the invitation of Bishop Gilbert Garcera in Daet. The launch will take place tomorrow Friday 26 July which is the Feast of Ss Joachim and Anne, parents of Mary and grandparents of Jesus. The launch will take place as the Philippines celebrate their first Grandparents Pilgrimage with participants from across the Philippine Islands. Tomorrow also marks the tenth anniversary of the very first Grandparents Pilgrimage which took place in Walsingham in England

While Ms Wiley is in that part of the world she will also visit South Korea and Japan to introduce the Catholic Grandparents Association there.

The Catholic Grandparents Association was founded from Westport Co Mayo by Ms Wiley to offer support to grandparents in the transmission of the faith from one generation to the next. Up to 10,000 people attend the Grandparents Pilgrimage at Knock Shrine each September. Thousands of other grandparents attend other pilgrimages across the globe.

Commenting from the Philippines Ms Wiley said: “Since the Eucharistic Congress in Dublin 2012 in Dublin we have experiences a surge of interest in the Catholic Grandparents Association and the work we do. It has been amazing for us to receive queries and invitation into the office in Westport from all parts of the world.”

In a recent letter to the Catholic Grandparents Association Archbishop Fisichella, President of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Family wrote: “It was truly an honor to have had you and other members of the Catholic Grandparents Association here in Rome for the Celebration of Movements and Lay Associations on the occasion of the Year of Faith. Please know how truly grateful I am to you and the other leaders of the Catholic Grandparents Association for promoting the New Evangelisation with such conviction and dedication.”

Ms Wiley continued: “I had the great honour of being presented to our Holy Father Pope Francis by Archbishop Fisichella on Pentecost Sunday this year. It was particularly providential for the Catholic Grandparents Association, that in our Holy Fathers address on Pentecost Saturday he spoke about the great effect his own Grandmother Rosa had on his life and his vocation to the priesthood.”

The first Pilgrimage for Families in Rome, will take place with Pope Francis on the 26th/27th of October 2013. There will be Grandparents and their families coming from many different countries.

 

Further information: Catholic Grandparents Association + 353 (0) 98 24877

Email catholicgrandparents@gmail.com Website: https://www.catholicgrandparentsassociation.org/ireland/