Plenary Indulgence on the Occasion of the World Day for Grandparents and Elderly

In a decree published on Wednesday, 5 July [2023], the Apostolic Penitentiary announced the opportunity for the faithful to obtain a plenary indulgence on the occasion of the Third World Day  for Grandparents and the Elderly, which will be celebrated on Sunday 23 July. The following is a translation of the decree outlining the necessary conditions for obtaining the indulgence, either for oneself or others.

D E C R E E

The Apostolic Penitentiary, in order to increase the devotion of the faithful and procure the salvation of souls, by virtue of the faculties attributed to it by the Supreme Pontiff Francis, Pope by Divine Providence, accepting the recent request presented by His Eminence Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church Kevin Joseph Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, on the occasion of the Third World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, already instituted by the Supreme Pontiff on the fourth Sunday of the month of July and which this year will be held on the theme “His mercy is from age to age” (Lk 1:50) graciously grants from the heavenly treasures of the Church the Plenary Indulgence, under the usual conditions (sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion and prayer according to the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff) to grandparents, the elderly and all the faithful who, motivated by a true spirit of penance and charity, participate on 23 July 2023, on the occasion of the Third World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, at the solemn celebration over which the Most Holy Father Francis will preside in the Vatican Papal Basilica, or at the various functions that will be held throughout the world, a Plenary Indulgence that may also be applied as a suffrage to the souls in Purgatory.

This Court of Mercy also grants the Plenary Indulgence on this same day to the faithful who devote adequate time to visiting, in person or virtually, through the communications media, their elderly brothers and sisters in need or in difficulty (such as the sick, the abandoned, the disabled...).

The Plenary Indulgence may also be granted, provided that they free themselves from any sin and intend to fulfill the three usual conditions as soon as possible, to the sick elderly and to all those who, unable to leave their homes for a serious reason, will unite spiritually with the sacred services of the World Day, offering to the Merciful God their prayers, their sorrows and the sufferings of their lives, especially while the words of the Supreme Pontiff and the various celebrations are broadcast through the media.

n order, therefore, that this opportunity to obtain divine grace through the power of the Keys of the Church may be more easily realized through pastoral charity, this Penitentiary firmly requests priests, equipped with the appropriate faculties to hear confessions, to make themselves available, with a ready and generous spirit, for the celebration of the Sacrament of Penance.

This Decree is valid for the Third World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, notwithstanding any provision to the contrary.

Given in Rome, at the Seat of the Apostolic Penitentiary, on 15 June 2023.

Mauro Card. Piacenza
Major Penitentiary

Krzysztof Nykiel
Regent