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After two long years of pandemic restrictions, the general audience of April 20 returned to a St. Peter's Square full of color and fragrance thanks to the hundreds of thousands of Easter flowers donated by the Netherlands.
But while the Pope was clearly glad to be among the faithful again, his message as he continued his audience series on the elderly was a somber one: "We often think that the old are refuse, or we put them in the trash; ... ‘Refuse’ is the word, isn’t it? To despise the elderly and cast them from life, to put them aside, to put them down."
The Pope noted how the Commandment to honor our father and mother is the first of the "2nd tablet," of the Commandments, that is, those that deal with how we treat our neighbor.
Honor is a "special love" that involves "tenderness and respect at the same time," the Pope explained.
The Holy Father made reference to a sad case reported in the news of young people who had burned a homeless person's blanket.
The Pope observed:
"This contempt, which dishonors the elderly, actually dishonors all of us. If I dishonour the elderly, I dishonor myself."
The Holy Father then pleaded with parents:
He then concluded with a personal story from his time in Argentina, warning that neglect for our elderly is a grave sin:
