Highlights from the February 2026 Grandparents Faith Café
“What Mission for the Elderly in the Church Today?”
Featuring Keynote Speaker Dr. Vittorio Scelzo — Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, Vatican
Tuesday, 10 February 2026 · Online via Zoom
On Tuesday, 10 February 2026, Grandparents and friends of the Catholic Grandparents Association gathered online from across the globe — Ireland, Australia, the United States, England, India, Portugal, South Africa, and Rome itself — for the February Grandparents Faith Café.
The evening’s theme could not have been more timely. Our keynote speaker was Dr. Vittorio Scelzo, who works at the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, where he is responsible for the pastoral care and ministry for the elderly. He was instrumental in shaping the Church’s pastoral response to an ageing world, and played a key role in the creation of the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly. It was the first time the Faith Café had welcomed a speaker directly from the Vatican — and the evening proved to be, in the words of one participant, “one of those nights when everything was just right.”
CGA Founder Catherine Wiley opened with a warm and moving reflection rooted in a remarkable conversation that had unfolded that very morning in her local hairdressing salon. Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier, Archbishop Emeritus of Durban, South Africa, offered the closing blessing.
“We need help. But we are confident, because we are in the hands of God.”
An Unexpected Grace — Catherine Wiley
Catherine had spent a long time trying to write her opening talk and couldn’t get it right. Then, that morning, in her local hairdresser’s, the whole essence of the evening’s theme unfolded before her eyes. Three other clients — of different ages — began sharing, unprompted, what faith and family had meant in their lives.
One woman, Nora, described how her young son George had been feeling unwell and said: “Mommy, will you say a prayer for me?” Her immediate thought was: I don’t think I can do that. We need Nana. Nana knows how to pray. She rang Nana, George asked for a prayer, and the next morning he was perfectly well and off to school. “That,” said Catherine, “is how faith is passed on.”
Laura spoke about her teenage daughter Millie, who heard that her grandfather would be alone for the night and immediately packed a bag and went to stay with him. He boiled the kettle three times to make sure her tea was hot enough. “I’m not sure who was happier,” said Catherine. That bond, that tenderness, is something rooted in families and stays forever.
Sinead, a speech therapist, spoke about her parents — people of deep faith who had endured great tragedy, including the loss of a child. What sustained them was not explanations, but a rhythm: daily Mass, sacraments, adoration, prayer. She later shared quietly that she herself had survived two bouts of stage 4 cancer, and that without her faith she would never have come through it.
Catherine reflected on tenderness in long marriage too. A younger woman in the salon noticed how gently she and her husband spoke to each other, and asked: “Do you always talk to each other like that?” Catherine said she had learned it from an older friend years ago. “Tenderness keeps love alive,” she told us. “We show, by how we speak, what love looks like. And all the time, we are showing the example. That is passing the faith.”
She closed her welcome with a challenge and a call: “Tell your stories. In all their rawness. Don’t pretend you haven’t made mistakes — those are the ones they want to hear. Grandparents and the elderly may well be the last line of practising faith in many of our families today. Our mission is simple, and it is urgent. And it is beautiful.”
The Age of Force — and the Witness of the Elderly — Dr. Vittorio Scelzo
Dr. Scelzo opened with a piece of wonderful news: that very day — 10 February 2026 — the theme for the next World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly had been announced. It will be: I Will Never Forget You, from the book of Isaiah. “This tells us something profound,” he said. “In Pope Leo’s mind, God does not forget. But there is also an urgent message, because they are forgotten. Many times, Grandparents and the elderly are forgotten. And so the proclamation must be made: God will never forget them.”
The Age of Force
Dr. Scelzo introduced what he called the Age of Force — a phrase coined decades ago by Italian statesman Giorgio La Pira to describe a world where strength and power prevail over right. “If we open our newspapers today,” he said, “we are overwhelmed by news of violence and war. Pope Leo himself said: war is back on vogue. Meaning it has become normal, acceptable. The strong do whatever they wish.”
And this is not only about international relations. Language itself, he observed, is becoming a weapon — used to deceive, to strike, to offend. Our societies are growing more violent and more divided.
“So why am I speaking about this?” he asked. “Because if the Age of Force is characterised by strength, then old age is precisely the opposite. Old age is the age of weakness. Old age is the age of tenderness. Old age is the age of fragility. And we, as Christians who believe the meek shall inherit the earth, are proposing a different model — a different anthropology — a different way of being human.”
Fragility as a Bridge Towards Heaven
Dr. Scelzo shared a beautiful message from Pope Leo, given at the Second International Congress of Pastoral Care of the Elderly: fragility, if we have the courage to acknowledge it, to embrace it, and to take care of it, is a bridge towards heaven. The same words were spoken to one million young people at the Jubilee of Youth, and then again to the elderly. Fragility as a bridge towards heaven.
“We have something to propose,” he said. “In a time of violence and force, we are proposing something different — something made of love, of prayer, of sacraments. This is a breach towards heaven.” He also noted that 2026 marks the 800th anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi, whose defining quality was courtesy — gentleness — in a very brutal time. Grandparents, he suggested, have something of the same to teach.
The Revolution of Tenderness
Pope Francis called it the revolution of tenderness — and Dr. Scelzo called on everyone present to join it. The bond between Grandparents and Grandchildren is a visible image of that revolution. But it must not stay within our families.
“The inheritance of Pope Francis’ papacy is: go out,” he said. “There is a beautiful image of Jesus knocking at the door — not to get in, but to get out of the church. So let us go out from our communities, our boundaries. We have something to propose to the whole of society.”
He extended a particular invitation in light of the new World Day theme: “Vist the lonely elderly. In Canada, only 10% of those living in long-term care facilities receive even one visit a year. Only 10%. We need the proclamation that God never forgets. And we need to be the counter-witness. Let us bring to lonely elderly the same love we give our Grandchildren.”
“Fragility, if we have the courage to acknowledge it and embrace it, is a bridge towards heaven.”
Moments from the Floor
Isaac — A Story of Love at Mass
One of the most moving moments of the evening came from Mary W. in England. She described a Sunday walk in the rain with her autistic son Isaac, 17, during which she fell. Isaac — who communicates in his own way — took her hand for the first time and asked, gently: “Okay, Mary?” He held her arm all the way home.
Later, she brought him to Mass. He put his head on her chest, completely at peace. When the priest gave her communion, Isaac’s face showed plainly what he was thinking: what about me? The arm went around her back. “All the people around us were watching,” said Mary. “I never said a word or a prayer during the whole Mass. But that bond of love — it really gave me a feeling of strength.”
Dr. Scelzo responded with deep feeling: “I saw in the eyes of that Grandmother something that should be shown to teach what Christianity truly is. Love was there. Jesus was there. We can study theology — but Christianity was in the eyes of a Grandmother looking at her Grandson.”
Cardinal Napier added a reflection from the Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara rites of the Eastern Church, where baptism, confirmation, and first communion are given together at birth. “Children were then taught how to be Christians — not how to receive a sacrament. They already had everything. Now they just had to live it.” Dr. Scelzo confirmed clearly: no one may be denied the sacraments because of disability. This is the teaching of the Church.
The Revolution of Tenderness in Practice
Ron and Mavis P. from Australia, both turning 90 this year, spoke with quiet power. “The most important thing is that we never give up,” said Ron. “We don’t allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by all this horrible news. It can only come through relationship and witness. It’s a revolution of tenderness. So we put ourselves in the hands of the Lord, and we are totally confident that the more caring and gentle we are, the more we will promote that revolution.”
Geraldine D., also from Australia, suggested that her parish’s relationship with a local school could be used to challenge younger parents to volunteer — offering lifts to elderly parishioners who can no longer drive to Mass. “That’s how it starts,” said Catherine. “One person does one thing. The seeds are sown.”
Michael and Christine E. from West Sussex shared that their diocese is implementing “family groups” — not groups of families, but groups made up of different generations within a parish, supporting one another across age. “The young helping with the elderly, the elderly supporting the young,” said Christine. “It is going to be a real gift for our parishes.”
A Special Night — Betty M.
Betty M. from Ireland waited until the end to speak. “I didn’t want to interrupt anything,” she said, “but I am so overcome and so energised by tonight. I just feel so humble. This has been a special night — absolutely a special night. It was just in the fullness of time. Everything was just right.”
A Prayer Request — Jane S.
Jane S., joining from Venice, shared that her 61-year-old son-in-law Scott Kelly had just been diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer. He is a father of four, Grandfather of six, a former Marine, and a man of deep faith. She asked for prayers for Scott and for the whole family. We ask all our members to hold them in their prayers.
A Blessing to Close
Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier brought the evening to a close with a prayer from our position of weakness — applying all the love that we have, for those who need help and strength the most. He asked a special blessing for all Grandparents gathered, and sent everyone forth in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Catherine closed with a Hail Mary — prayed together across every time zone, every continent, every generation represented on the call. It was, as these evenings always are, a reminder that faith, friendship, and the warmth of community — even across a Zoom screen — can make the whole world feel a little less alone.
“We have never needed each other as much as we do now, ever.”
Join Us Next Month
The next Grandparents Faith Café takes place on Tuesday, 10 March 2026,
featuring Tara Rafter — Motivational Speaker, Life Coach & EVOKE Irish Life Coach of the Year 2025.
Free and open to all. Register at www.catholicgrandparentsassociation.org
“I will never forget you.” — Isaiah 49:15