Pope To Celebrate Grandparents In Special Mass

Pope Francis is reportedly set to hold a special mass for grandparents, shortly after he performed the marriage of 20 couples at the Vatican this past weekend.

The mass will be celebrated in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Sept. 28 and will include the pope, 100 elderly priests and thousands of grandparents in attendance. The purpose of the mass is to spotlight the importance of family in the Catholic Church, and comes ahead of a study, to be released by the Catholic Church in October, that will highlight the importance of family.

Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia, head of the Vatican's family office, told the Associated Press that 40,000 people from 20 different nations are expected to attend the Sept. 28 mass. Each attendee will receive a copy of the Gospel of Mark with enlarged font.

Just this past weekend, the pope performed the marriage ceremony for 20 couples at the Vatican, many of whom had cohabitated before marriage and one couple who had had a child out of wedlock.

Although sex before marriage is a sin in the Catholic Church, the pope focused his homily to the couples on the importance of forgiveness.

"To spouses who 'have become impatient on the way' and who succumb to the dangerous temptation of discouragement, infidelity, weakness, abandonment," the pope told the couples, "God the Father gives his Son Jesus, not to condemn them."

Many are viewing the pope's recent mass and upcoming service as a move to promote a more inclusive church. The pope's marrying of 20 couples who do not live exactly by Catholic doctrine shows that the pope is welcoming of all different types of Catholics living in modern society. The reason behind the grandparent mass is to show respect and love toward the elderly in society. Francis has long preached that the elderly should be valued for the wisdom and experience, rather than disregarded in retirement homes.