Starsi ludzie filarem rodziny wielopokoleniowej, społeczeństwa i Kościoła w nauczaniu Jana Pawła II

Papal attention towards the elderly makes us aware that we witness more and more distinct and prophetic perception of an important issue of the elderly. Due to prolongation of human lifespan one can observe such issues as: how to fill one’s time, how to form intergenerational relationships (due to the disappearance of intergenerational transmission), how to find the vocation for the elderly and how a younger generation could become more open to the elderly. Speaking to the elderly and the youth, John Paul II reached to the memory of his generation to recall and reshape the ideas of generational coexistence which are not always and not everywhere implemented. Younger generations do not always have only good experience. On the basis of papal speeches the article presents the notion and significance of multigenerational family and the notion of old age. We show the opinion of John Paul II concerning intergenerational dialogue, mission of the elderly, their essential role in the life of a family, society and the Church and concerning the activities of the society and Church for the benefit of the elderly. Most papal speeches are the appeal of the Head of the Church to respect the lives of the elderly.