The Parish of St John Mary Vianney celebrated the gifts that older parishioners bring as part of the International Day of Older People by hosting a simple “Tea, Cake and Conversation” afternoon.
Every year, there is a different theme and in 2017 the theme was “Stepping into the Future: Tapping the Talents, Contributions and Participation of Older Persons in Society.” It was great to see different generations come together to celebrate the talents of older people, as members of the Minnie Vinnies (the parish’s junior SVP) came along to sing.
The International Day of Older People, at the beginning of October every year, is an initiative from the United Nations, as part of a bigger strategy to tackle ageism. In 2014, Governments around the world adopted a resolution at the Economic and Social Council that recognised ageism as “the common source of, the justification for and the driving force behind age discrimination.”
Did your parish celebrate the International Day of Older People? If you did, then we would love to hear about it so we can share this with other parishes in our Diocese and beyond.