The Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development has made public this Thursday the theme chosen by Leo XIV for the XXXV World Day of the Sick, which will be celebrated on February 11, 2027, the liturgical memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lourdes. The title is “They lowered him on the stretcher in front of Jesus” (cf. Lk 5, 19): “The role of the community in the care of each person,” according to the communiqué issued by the dicastery.
The Day will thus mark thirty-five years since Saint John Paul II instituted it, and as usual the Pope will deliver a message for the occasion. The motto refers to the Gospel passage of the healing of a paralytic in Capernaum, whom some men, prevented by the crowd from reaching the Master, lowered on his stretcher from the roof, opening a hole, to place him before Christ.
A community that brings the sick to Christ
The communiqué presents that scene as an example of a community that organizes itself to bring those who suffer “to the sources of physical and spiritual healing.” From this, the dicastery recalls that the Christian vocation is rooted in Baptism and in the commandment of mutual love: “love your neighbor, take care of him.”
In this sense, the text emphasizes that, like the friends of the paralytic, parishes and Christian communities “are called to take care of those who are alone, elderly, or suffering,” in order to create spaces of closeness and hope. The dicastery adds that this responsibility also belongs to civil society, together with Christian communities, in the face of people’s vulnerabilities and suffering.
The previous edition, focused on the Samaritan
The 2026 Day had as its motto “The compassion of the Samaritan: loving by bearing the pain of the other.” The new theme shifts the emphasis from the attitude of the one who approaches the wounded to the communal dimension of care, in which each believer and each group participate in the care of the most fragile.
The chosen date, the memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes, maintains the traditional link of the Day with the French Marian shrine, where numerous sick people and pilgrims come each year. With the announcement of the theme, the preparation of the Pope’s message begins, which will be made known before the celebration.