Grandparents and the Elderly: Grace and Mission
18min | Presented by Ron and Mavis Pirola
This presentation explores the gifts that grandparents and the elderly can offer to families and to the Church, particularly through their wisdom, time, memories and experience. Ron and Mavis also discuss the many joys that grandparents can receive from spending time with their grandchildren, and practical ways that they can support married couples.
Ron and Mavis Pirola have been married for 63 years, have four children, eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Ron is an Honorary Professor of Medicine at the University of NSW Sydney and a researcher into pancreatic cancer. Mavis is a former high school teacher. They have a wide experience in marriage and family ministry at both parish and international levels. Ron and Mavis jointly chaired the Australian Catholic Marriage and Family Council from its inception in 2005 until 2012. They were members of the Pontifical Council for the Family for 27 years and were speakers at the Synod on the Laity (1987) and the Extraordinary Synod on the Family (2014). Ron and Mavis are enthusiastic supporters of World Meetings of Families, have led Australian pilgrimages to several of them, and were speakers at Manila, Mexico, Valencia and Dublin.
