Grandly co-founder and director Pili Abouchaar (right) discusses the apostolate's work with grandparents on "EWTN Pro-Life Weekly" on June 4, 2025. / Credit: "EWTN Pro-Life Weekly"/ScreenshotWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 10, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA)."What if the most important thing that God wants you to do is still in front of you, and that is passing on the faith to your grandchildren?" That's the proposition Pili Abouchaar focuses on as co-founder and director of Grandly, an apostolate dedicated to helping grandparents do just that.In an interview on "EWTN Pro-Life Weekly," Abouchaar acknowledged that grandparents often feel helpless and hopeless in regard to this mission, but Grandly can make a difference in their approach and outlook. "The main thing that we try to tackle in our mission in Grandly is to try to give grandparents hope to help them bridge that generational gap between how they were raised and how youth culture is moving right now."The apostolate, which cel...
Grandly co-founder and director Pili Abouchaar (right) discusses the apostolate's work with grandparents on "EWTN Pro-Life Weekly" on June 4, 2025. / Credit: "EWTN Pro-Life Weekly"/Screenshot
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 10, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).
"What if the most important thing that God wants you to do is still in front of you, and that is passing on the faith to your grandchildren?" That's the proposition Pili Abouchaar focuses on as co-founder and director of Grandly, an apostolate dedicated to helping grandparents do just that.
In an interview on "EWTN Pro-Life Weekly," Abouchaar acknowledged that grandparents often feel helpless and hopeless in regard to this mission, but Grandly can make a difference in their approach and outlook.
"The main thing that we try to tackle in our mission in Grandly is to try to give grandparents hope to help them bridge that generational gap between how they were raised and how youth culture is moving right now."
The apostolate, which celebrates its 10th anniversary next year, is especially relevant now, within the context of the jubilee year and the upcoming July 27 World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, with this year's theme being "Blessed Are Those Who Have Not Lost Hope."
Abouchaar said among Grandly's offerings is "a seminar called the 'Do It Grandly' seminar, which grandparents can take by themselves. They can find the seminar on our website. We are also helping parishes across the United States and in other countries to host seminars for their grandparents locally."
"Do It Grandly," a five-session online seminar, helps grandparents embrace their unique role in fostering the faith of their grandchildren. The sessions include topics on a bold vision, renewing hope, grandparenting and youth work, the strategic grandparent, and faith to move grandchildren.
The series' free, opening 30-minute session, titled "A Bold Vision," covers how youth see our culture and how God is in their lives, and offers interviews and discussions with grandparents. Grandly also features on its website a variety of helpful testimonies, stories, and discussion groups.
So far, Abouchaar said Grandly has reached some 20,000 grandparents and, through them, approximately 100,000 grandchildren.
The full segment about Grandly on "EWTN Pro-Life Weekly" can be viewed below.
Credit: anonymous/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 30, 2025 / 15:47 pm (CNA).A coalition of 20 American Catholic bishops and religious leaders from other faiths has signed on to a letter urging lawmakers to vote against a proposed budget bill because of provisions to increase funding for immigration enforcement."From our various faith perspectives, the moral test of a nation is how it treats those most in need of support," the letter read. "In our view, this legislation will harm the poor and vulnerable in our nation, to the detriment of the common good."The letter's signatories included Cardinal Robert McElroy of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., and Cardinal Joseph Tobin of the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey. Phoenix Bishop John Dolan, Seattle Archbishop Paul Etienne, St. Louis Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski, and Sacramento, California, Bishop Jaime Soto were also among those who signed.In addition to the bishops, other signatories to the letter included the lea...
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The "Hall of Constantine" is Raphael's masterpiece, depicting Constantine's victory over Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Jun 30, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).After a decade of painstaking restoration, the imposing Hall of Constantine in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, which houses Raphael's masterpiece depicting Constantine's victory over Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge, has been returned to its original splendor.This space, the largest of the well-known Raphael Rooms, was partially closed to the public in 2015 due to delicate conservation work that ultimately culminated in a result described as "exemplary" by Vatican Museums."In a way, we have rewritten the history of art," explained Barbara Jatta, director of the Vatican Museums, during a June 26 presentation to the press held at the Vatican Museums. She was joined by Fabrizio Biferali, supervisor of the art department for the 15th and 16th centuries; Fabio Piacentini and Francesca Persegati fro...
Grandly co-founder and director Pili Abouchaar (right) discusses the apostolate's work with grandparents on "EWTN Pro-Life Weekly" on June 4, 2025. / Credit: "EWTN Pro-Life Weekly"/Screenshot
