Vatican City: Pope Francis dedicated his Wednesday general audience talk to the urgent need for young and old to come together so older people can share their faith and wisdom about the world.

“Let’s think about dialogue, about the alliance between old and young,” he said, as well as make sure this bond is not broken. “

May the elderly have the joy of speaking, of expressing themselves with young people and may young people seek out the elderly to receive the wisdom of life from them.”

Pope Francis emphasized the need for healthy dialogue between the young and the elderly.

An unknown little boy approached Pope Francis near the end of the audience

“The alliance — and I am saying alliance — the alliance between the elderly and children will save the human family,” the pope said. “If this dialogue does not take place between the elderly and the young, the future cannot be clearly seen.”

Francis greets a boy who ran onstage during his general audience in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican

Near the end of the pope’s general audience, which took place in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall, a young boy approached Francis while sitting on the stage.

Pope Francis spoke to him in Italian, greeting him and asking his name, though the little boy did not respond. “During the audience, we spoke of the dialogue between the elderly and the young,” the pope said to those watching, as he gestured to the boy. “He was courageous, this one.”

The sandy-haired child stood next to Francis for the remainder of the audience, including the singing of the Our Father in Latin and the pope’s final blessing. Afterward, Francis traced a cross on the boy’s forehead.

In his address, the pope said “it is painful — and harmful — to see that the ages of life are conceived of as separate worlds, in competition among themselves, each one seeking to live at the expense of the other: this is not right.”

“Old age,” he said, “must bear witness — for me, this is the core, the most central aspect of old age — old age must bear witness to children that they are a blessing.”

“This witness consists in their initiation — beautiful and difficult — into the mystery of our destination in life that no one can annihilate, not even death. To bring the witness of faith before a child is to sow that life. To bear the witness of humanity too, and of faith, is the vocation of the elderly.”

According to the pope, “the witness of the elderly is credible to children,” and “young people and adults are not capable of bearing witness in such an authentic, tender, poignant way, as elderly people can.”

Death is a very difficult passage in life, the pope said, but it “concludes the time of uncertainty and throws away the clock,” ushering in “the beautiful part of life, which has no more deadlines.”

During the last part of the general audience, when the pope offers special greetings to those attending from different parts of the world, the pope reaffirmed his prayers for Ukraine, asking that people not forget “this martyred people.”

There was also a brief interruption during the greetings when a Swiss guard, who was standing behind one of the language speakers, fell face forward, dropping his halberd. Two men from security assisted him in standing back up and another Swiss guard took his place.