By Irudhaya Jothi

Agartala: Many parishes of Agartala diocese in the northeastern state of Tripura on July 25 celebrated the first World Day of Grandparents, declared by Pope Francis.

“Our parishes have traditionally been celebrating the Senior Citizens Day on the Sunday prior or after the feast of Saints Joachim and Anna, the grandparents of Jesus. This year we are celebrating it as World Day of Grandparents and elderly people as suggested by the Holy Father, Bishop Lumen Monteiro of Agartala told Matters India.

Pope Francis instituted the world day for the elderly through a letter dated May 31. The Pope wants the annual celebration on the fourth Sunday in July, close to the feast of the Blessed Virgin’s parents.

Assuring the senior citizens, the Pope said, “I am well aware that this Message comes to you at a difficult time: the pandemic swept down on us like an unexpected and furious storm; it has been a time of trial for everyone, but especially for us elderly persons.”

Pope also said he wanted to celebrate the day, in this particular year, as a long period of isolation ends and social life slowly resumes. “May every grandfather, every grandmother, every older person, especially those among us who are most alone, receive the visit of an angel.”

The day for the elderly has come at a time when the coronavirus pandemic brought immense sufferings to the older generation in recent months across the globe. Reports of elderly people dying alone and not getting funeral have caused deep pain to the Church, the Pope said.

The Pope says, “I was called to become the Bishop of Rome when I had reached, so to speak, retirement age and thought I would not be doing anything new. The Lord is always – always – close to us. He is close to us with new possibilities, new ideas, new consolations, but always close to us. You know that the Lord is eternal; he never, ever goes into retirement.”

Bishop Monteiro says the Pope “asks us to keep in mind all those elderly persons who died for lack of respirators, and take steps towards a new way of life and think of one another and love to build a new humanity, expressed.

The 69-year-old Holy Cross prelate says the world day assures the elders that the entire Church is close to them and cares about them and does not want to leave them alone.

Bishop Monteiro recalled that the partial lockdown last year prevented them from celebrating the Senior Citizens Day. :But this year we are encouraging every parishes to have symbolic celebration or encourage the youth to be connected with their grant parents,” the prelate said.

The bishop said the practice of respecting the elders and taking care of them is intrinsically embedded in tribal culture through the well-knit family environment.

“Just as the Holy Father says, we have excellent sharing of life experiences between the elders and the young as part of the tribal ethos,” he added.

Youth convention is an annual affair in the diocese to urge the youth the need to reach out to the elderly especially since many young people now go to cities for study and works.

“We have the good tradition of one family helping the other needy with food, medicine and even giving bath to the elderly,” the prelate explained.

The Church also encourage the youth to keep the link to their roots wherever they go.

Among the parishes that celebrated the day was the Jesuit parish of St. Ignatius at Jamtalibari in Kailasahar, some 140 km northeast of Agartala, the state capital.

A cake was cut by two grandparents with their grandchildren while a Halam song was sung by the parishioners. The children honored their grandparents with the traditional Halam shawl.

The parish also organized special prayers for the good health of grandparents and elderly and prayed for the victims of Covid-19 world over.