The 2026 World Day of the Sick invites Catholics to embody the Samaritan’s compassion, offering hope and healing to those suffering in body and spirit.
Newsroom (27/09/2025, Gaudium Press ) Pope Leo XIV has chosen “The Compassion of the Samaritan: Loving by Bearing Another’s Pain” as the theme for the 34th World Day of the Sick, to be observed on February 11, 2026, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. The announcement, detailed in a statement from the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, emphasizes the evangelical figure of the Good Samaritan, who embodies love through concrete acts of care for those in suffering, particularly the sick, often marginalized by poverty, isolation, and loneliness.
A Call to Concrete Acts of Love
The Dicastery’s statement highlights the parable of the Good Samaritan, who tends to a wounded man abandoned by robbers, as a model of love that demands proximity and action. “Love requires tangible gestures of closeness, through which we take on the suffering of others, especially those living with illness in contexts of fragility due to poverty, isolation, and solitude,” the statement reads. Pope Leo XIV’s chosen theme underscores the need for compassion that actively engages with the pain of others, offering solace and hope.
Jesus as the Ultimate Good Samaritan
The statement concludes by presenting Jesus Christ as the ultimate Good Samaritan, who approaches wounded humanity through the Church’s sacraments, pouring “the oil of consolation and the wine of hope.” This imagery, drawn from the Gospel parable, reflects the Pope’s vision of a “revolution of love,” first articulated in his homily on July 13, 2025, at the pontifical parish of San Tommaso da Villanova in Castel Gandolfo. Describing the parable as one of the Gospel’s “most beautiful and evocative,” Leo XIV emphasized compassion as its central message, urging believers to emulate the Samaritan’s self-giving love.
Seeing with the “Eyes of the Heart”
In his homily, the Pope contrasted the indifference of the priest and Levite, who pass by the wounded man, with the Samaritan’s empathetic gaze. “The world often seems to have set aside mercy, losing the ability to let its heart be pierced by the sight of another’s pain,” he said. The Samaritan, however, sees “with the eyes of the heart,” entering into the suffering of the other with empathy. This perspective, the Pope noted, mirrors Jesus, who heals humanity’s wounds with the “oil of his love and mercy.”
Leo XIV further elaborated that God’s compassion transforms believers, enabling them to become “signs of his love and compassion in the world.” This transformation, he said, equips Christians with “a heart that is moved, a gaze that sees and does not pass by, hands that help and soothe wounds, and strong shoulders that bear the burdens of those in need.”
Compassion Through Concrete Gestures
The Pope revisited the parable during his general audience on May 28, 2025, stressing that compassion manifests through “concrete gestures” of care. The Samaritan, he explained, stops not out of duty but because he sees “a man in need of help.” Unlike those who maintain distance, the Samaritan engages directly—cleaning and bandaging wounds, carrying the man to safety, and ensuring his care at an inn, even at personal cost. “True help means feeling the weight of another’s pain,” the Pope said, adding that the Samaritan’s actions reflect a commitment to ongoing care, not a one-time act.
The Barrier of Haste
Leo XIV also addressed the modern obstacle to compassion: haste. “The rush so present in our lives often prevents us from feeling compassion,” he remarked. Those who prioritize their own schedules, like the priest and Levite, fail to stop for others. The parable, he concluded, calls believers to “interrupt their journey” and recognize the wounded as a reflection of themselves, cared for by Jesus. “When we understand that the wounded man represents each of us, whom Jesus has tended to countless times, we can have compassion,” he said.
The 2026 World Day of the Sick invites Catholics worldwide to embody the Samaritan’s compassion, offering hope and healing to those suffering in body and spirit.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Vatican News
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