--- title: Pope: 'No Future for the Young' If Elderly Aren't Respected description: “A society where the elderly are discarded carries within it the virus of death" canonical: https://time.com/3731453/pope-elderly-respect/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-04T15:08:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T04:54:01.324Z article:section: World og:title: Pope: 'No Future for the Young' If Elderly Aren't Respected og:description: “A society where the elderly are discarded carries within it the virus of death" og:url: https://time.com/3731453/pope-elderly-respect/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt796f5b70d62e19f3/698782065f570f1c3ab15917/pope-francis2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Pope Francis Holds His Weekly Audience og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Pope: 'No Future for the Young' If Elderly Aren't Respected twitter:description: “A society where the elderly are discarded carries within it the virus of death" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt796f5b70d62e19f3/698782065f570f1c3ab15917/pope-francis2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Pope Says There's 'No Future for the Young' If Elderly Aren't Respected by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Mar 4, 2015 3:08 PM CUT  Pope Francis attends his weekly audience in St. Peter's Square on March 4, 2015 in Vatican City, Vatican. Pope Francis attends his weekly audience in St. Peter's Square on March 4, 2015 in Vatican City, Vatican.Massimo Valicchia—NurPhoto by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Mar 4, 2015 3:08 PM CUT Pope Francis urged crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday to show respect for the elderly, saying people will be judged by how they treat their older counterparts. “Where the elderly are not honored, there is no future for the young,” Pope Francis told the 12,000 followers who attended his weekly address, Vatican Radio [reports](http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/03/04/pope%5Fa%5Fsociety%5Fthat%5Fdiscards%5Fthe%5Felderly%5Fcarries%5Fwithin%5Fa%5Fd/1126892 "undefined").“A society where the elderly are discarded carries within it the virus of death.” The 78-year-old Argentine pontiff denounced the lack of care with which people treat their elders, even as life expectancy has increased. “If we do not learn to look after and to respect our elderly, we will be treated in the same way,” he warned. “The quality of a society, I mean of a civilization, is also judged by how it treats elderly people and by the place it gives them in community life.” _\[_[_Vatican Radio_](http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/03/04/pope%5Fa%5Fsociety%5Fthat%5Fdiscards%5Fthe%5Felderly%5Fcarries%5Fwithin%5Fa%5Fd/1126892 "undefined")_\]_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3731453/pope-elderly-respect/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3731453/pope-elderly-respect/"},"headline":"Pope Says There's 'No Future for the Young' If Elderly Aren't Respected","datePublished":"2015-03-04T15:08:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T04:54:01.324Z","description":"“A society where the elderly are discarded carries within it the virus of death\"","url":"https://time.com/3731453/pope-elderly-respect/","keywords":["Vatican"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt796f5b70d62e19f3/698782065f570f1c3ab15917/pope-francis2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt796f5b70d62e19f3/698782065f570f1c3ab15917/pope-francis2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Pope Francis Holds His Weekly Audience","caption":"Pope Francis attends his weekly audience in St. Peter's Square on March 4, 2015 in Vatican City, Vatican.","creditText":"Massimo Valicchia—NurPhoto","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/vatican/","name":"Vatican"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3731453/pope-elderly-respect/","name":"Pope Says There's 'No Future for the Young' If Elderly Aren't Respected"}}]}] ```