Grandparents say their role has never been more crucial than today

By Sarah Mac Donald , Catholic News Service

KNOCK, Ireland (CNS) – Catherine Wiley, 71-year-old grandmother of 10, believes the role of grandparents has never been more crucial than today.

Catherine Wiley, founder of the Catholic Grandparents Association, is pictured with singer and family values advocate Dana-Rosemary Scallon and two great-grandmothers: Rosemary Hogan and Margaret Harrington, Sept. 10 at the National Marian Shrine in Knock, Ireland. (CNS photo/Sarah Mac Donald) See IRELAND-GRANDPARENTS-PRAYER Sept. 11, 2017.

“Today we are faced with considerations that our parents and grandparents could never ever have imagined,” Wiley told more than 5,000 grandparents at the national shrine in Knock.

At a Sept. 10 Mass for grandparents, Wiley, founder of the Catholic Grandparents Association, said the church should establish a world day of prayer for them in recognition of their role in sustaining and passing on the faith. She suggested the date be July 26, the feast of Sts. Joachim and Anne, grandparents of Jesus. CONTINUE READING.