The Catholic Bishop of Keta-Akatsi Diocese, the Most Rev. Gabriel Edoe Kumordji, SVD, has lamented that COVID-19 pandemic had been most cruel to the elderly, hence the need to celebrate the role of the elderly in our society.
“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,” the Bishop stated at the launching of Ghana version of the World Day of Grandparents and Elderly.
The day to be marked on fourth Sundays of July was instituted by His Holiness Pope Francis.
Launching the Day at a brief ceremony at the National Catholic Secretariat (NCS) on July 19, Bishop Kumordji who doubles as the Episcopal Chairman of the Catholic Laity in Ghana, said many including the elderly fell ill, others died or experienced the death of spouses or loved ones, expressing worry that others found themselves isolated and alone for long periods.
The theme for the celebration on July 25 will be, “I am with you always” (Mt 28:20).
The Most Rev. Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Cape Coast and Vice President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference who was also present at the ceremony emphasised the need to embrace the celebration, saying* “the human person is made up of different categories, and one of the categories that is gradually being forgotten, is the category of grandparents”.
He charged the leadership of the National Catholic Laity Council and the National Council of Catholic Women in Ghana to spread the good news to others of marking the Day this Sunday since the task instituted by Pope Francis was a shared responsibility of both the laity and the religious.
Pope Francis few weeks ago declared the last Sunday of July every, which this this year’s falls on July 25 ,2021 as a day to celebrate the existence and role of grandparents and elderly in society.
