For pastoral care teams, parish visitation groups, and Catholic aged care homes. Free to print, copy, and adapt.
On 26 July 2026 the Church keeps the Sixth World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, instituted by Pope Francis and held each year on the fourth Sunday of July, near the feast of Saints Joachim and Anne. For 2026, Pope Leo XIV has chosen the theme “I will never forget you”, drawn from Isaiah 49:15.
The Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life describes the theme as a message of consolation and hope for all grandparents and the elderly, especially those who live in solitude or who feel forgotten, and as a call to families and communities to treasure their older members as a valuable presence and a blessing.
A question for your team meeting: who, in our home or our parish, on an ordinary week, is at risk of being forgotten? Write the names down. This pack exists for that list.
Isaiah gives God the image of a mother who could never forget her child, and then goes further: even if she could, I will never forget you. The promise is addressed to people in exile, who suspected they had slipped from everyone's memory.
Many of the people in our care know that suspicion personally. The visitors thinned out; the phone rings less than it did; the world seems to be getting along fine without them. The World Day does not ask us for sentiment. It asks us to become the way the promise is kept: the visit that actually happens, the call that actually recurs, the name that is actually remembered.
For discussion: What would our home or parish have to change so that no one on our list could honestly say “I have been forgotten”? Which of those changes survives past July?
The simplest concrete commitment for the World Day: every resident, and every homebound parishioner on your list, hears a warm and unhurried voice during the week. Family first; volunteers and pastoral visitors next; and a scheduled wellbeing check-in for anyone who would otherwise be missed.
| Name | Caller or visitor | Planned day | Done / outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
The Wednesday rule. Review the list on Wednesday 22 July. Anyone not yet claimed by a family member or volunteer is assigned one by the coordinator that day. The unclaimed names are the reason the program exists.
Two practical notes for volunteers: sit down, so the visit does not look like it is ending from the moment it begins; and end by naming the next contact (“I will call you Thursday week”) so the visit leaves anticipation behind it.
The theme's hardest word is never. Before the pack goes back in the drawer, agree on one recurring commitment and write it here:
| Our recurring commitment | How often | Who owns it | First date |
|---|---|---|---|
If the honest answer is that your team cannot sustain weekly contact for everyone by hand, that is a solvable problem. careplans AI provides scheduled, documented wellbeing check-in calls that listen, record, and escalate to human carers, so that no one on the list is missed between visits. Check-in calls supplement human connection; they do not replace it.