People need to take time to acknowledge the needs and suffering of those around them and be moved by love and compassion to offer others help, Pope Leo XIV says in his message for the World Day of the Sick. Source: CNS.
To love one’s neighbour – whom Jesus identifies as anyone who has need of us – is within everyone’s reach, he said in his message for the 34th World Day of the Sick, observed by the Church on February 11, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.
“The pain that moves us to compassion is not the pain of a stranger; it is the pain of a member of our own body, to whom Christ, our head, commands us attend, for the good of all,” the Pope wrote in the message released yesterday.
The theme chosen for the 2026 observance is inspired by the parable of the good Samaritan and Pope Francis’s encyclical on human fraternity, Fratelli Tutti.
Titled “The compassion of the Samaritan: Loving by bearing the pain of the other,” the message focuses on the importance of encountering and listening to others; being moved by compassion; and loving God through concrete action in solidarity with others.
While traditionally addressed to Catholic health care and pastoral workers, this year’s message is offered to everyone, Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, said at a Vatican news conference yesterday.
The message is offered to everyone because “we’re one body, one humanity of brothers and sisters, and when someone’s sick and suffering, all the other categories – which tend to divide – fade away into insignificance,” Cardinal Czerny said.
In his message, Pope Leo said, “To serve one’s neighbour is to love God through deeds.”
In fact, the “true meaning of loving ourselves,” he wrote, involves “setting aside any attempt to base our self-esteem or sense of dignity on worldly stereotypes – such as success, career, status or family background – and recovering our proper place before God and neighbour.”
“I genuinely hope that our Christian lifestyle will always reflect this fraternal, ‘Samaritan’ spirit – one that is welcoming, courageous, committed and supportive, rooted in our union with God and our faith in Jesus Christ,” Pope Leo wrote.
FULL STORY
Everyone can be a good Samaritan, Pope says in message for world’s sick (By Carol Glatz, CNS)
