To the Older Generation

"Brothers and sisters of the older generation, you are a treasure for the Church, you are a blessing for the World! How often you have to relieve the young parents, how well you know how to introduce the youngsters to the history of your family and of your home country, to the tales of your people and the world of faith!

You are a necessary complement in a world which shows enthusiasm for the vitality of youth and for the power of the so-called “best years,” in a world where what can be counted counts so much. You remind it that it continues building upon the diligence of those who have been young and strong earlier, and that one day it, too, will place its work in younger hands."

Pope John Paul II to the elderly in the Cathedral of Our Lady, Munich, Germany, November 19, 1980.