Written by Archbishop Julian Porteous
January 5th 2026
Originally posted on www.graceandtruth.com.au
In Western societies there has been the constant promotion of the individual as the unit of focus for politics and economics.
Society is now structured in such a way that both parties in a marriage and both parents in a family are required to work if there is to be any chance of ensuring financial wellbeing.
In this process the family is disadvantaged. Childcare has replaced maternal care. Parents are often stretched in being able to manage complex work requirements and be able to give quality time as mothers and fathers to their children.
Recently, on 1 June this year, at a Mass in St Peter’s Square to conclude the Jubilee of Families, Children, Grandparents and the Elderly, Pope Leo said, “Families are the cradle of the future of humanity”. This is very true and it needs to proclaimed clearly to the world of today. It is not the individual who is the key to society, but it is the family unit.
The family unit is a natural society. It exists long before the State or any other body. The family is the basic unit of society and the bedrock of social development.
The family unit, as the synthesis of the deepest human impulses for social relationships, for expression of self-giving love, for emotional wellbeing, is not the creation of one particular human era, but rather is the patrimony of every era and civilization.
The family unit is the natural environment in which human life is created, cared for and valued. Within this environment the irreplaceable nature of each person is abundantly clear, since each member has a name, not a number.
It is within the family that each individual learns how to put their existence into the right context.
A person does not exist for themselves, but they are part of a set of relationships. At the same time, the growth in understanding moral standards and acting upon them is experienced first within the family and the family unit is the best place for each person to develop and mature. Within the family sphere we learn standards, values and respect for others, which are essential for the development and well-being of the individuals. They provide the foundation for forming of society as a whole, where qualities like freedom, respect, consideration of others, generosity, and mutual concern can be fostered.
Family is the place where faith in God is nourished. Pope Leo commented at the Mass on 1 June, “In the family faith is handed on together with life, generation after generation”. It is in the family that the child first encounters the faith and comes to know the reality and the love of God.
It is in the context of family that we recognize the role of grandparents. Current circumstances now offer an opportunity for grandparents to take a more active role in the nurturing of their grandchildren.
This applies in a particular way to assisting the next generation to come to faith. Parents, of course, are the first teachers of their children in the ways of faith. It is sadly true that there has been a significant loss of faith among the parents of today and many have chosen not to prioritise the faith development of their children. Here grandparents can play a vital role, complementing and often completing the role of parents.
We see time and time again the efforts of grandparents to nurture the faith of their grandchildren. Often these days grandparents are called upon to assist parents in the care for their children for the duration of a day. This is often necessary in a society that has created the demand for both parents to work. Grandparents are called upon especially during school holidays to care for the young children.
Pope Francis was a great advocate of the role of grandparents. In his apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis reminds us of the importance of grandparents in family life and how their role can be fundamental in transmitting the Catholic faith to future generations.
This intergenerational connection can have a real impact on the spiritual growth of children.
He commented, “Very often it is grandparents who ensure that the most important values are passed down to their grandchildren, and many people can testify that they owe their initiation into the Christian life to their grandparents”.
Grandparents play a vital role in nurturing their grandchildren’s faith by sharing stories, modelling faith in daily life, and providing a sense of continuity and connection to family traditions and values which have their origin in the Christian faith. They can share their personal faith stories, read scriptures together, and create opportunities for spiritual conversations and reflection.
Pope Francis commented, “A family that fails to respect and cherish its grandparents, who are its living memory, is already in decline, whereas a family that remembers has a future.”
The social forces that foster a decline in family life are so pervasive that parents struggle to provide the levels of emotional and spiritual support that their children really need. Grandparents can help fill in this gap.
More broadly however, societies like our own need to reconsider what they are doing in disadvantaging the family. Many social ills are being bred when priority is not given to ensuring the health and wellbeing of family life.
