Lenten campaign 2026
This content is free of charge, as are all our articles.
Support us with a donation and enable us to continue to reach millions of readers.
“I unite myself spiritually to those who are gathering in Chiclayo, Peru, to solemnly celebrate the World Day of the Sick,” Pope Leo said to Spanish-speaking pilgrims during his general audience on Wednesday, February 11. “I entrust all of you, especially the sick and their families, to the maternal protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary.”
He lit a candle before an image of Our Lady of Lourdes that was in Paul VI Hall for the audience.
Then after the audience, he made a mini-pilgrimage to Lourdes -- that is, to the replica of the grotto in the Vatican Gardens. There, he was able to greet members of the faithful who are sick or suffering, some in wheelchairs.
He gave a brief address, focused on Mary's closeness especially in times of difficulty:
Today, on this day dedicated to the sick, we want to pray in communion with all those who suffer in the world. We pray for you. I sincerely thank you for making the effort to come and accompany us in this moment of prayer, here before our mother, Mary, on her liturgical memorial, Our Lady of Lourdes.
It is a very beautiful day that reminds us of the closeness of Mary, our mother, who always accompanies us and teaches us so much: what suffering means, what love means, what it means to entrust our lives into the hands of the Lord.
So, let us also ask for the Lord's blessing for you, for all the sick on this day and always, and for all those who accompany them: the medical sciences, doctors, nurses, the many people who are close to us, especially in the most difficult moments.
Let us pray together: Hail Mary...
Blessing
Thank you! May God always accompany you.
34th World Day hosted in Chiclayo
Back in January, in his special message for the World Day of the Sick, the Holy Father had already announced that his former diocese (where he served from 2015 to 2023) would be the epicenter of the 34th celebration of this world event. The theme for the occasion was “The compassion of the Samaritan: loving by bearing another’s pain.”
Leo XIV was represented at the event by special envoy Cardinal Michael Czerny, SJ, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. In his homily, the cardinal pointed out that the “healing love” we need to practice towards the sick requires personal conversion. “It is a matter of ‘looking with God’s eyes,’ of not being content to coldly proclaim dire prophecies or announce tragic diagnoses, but rather of always being ready to change course, to bend down with hope, again and again, toward the other.”
Thus, love must lead to action. “We can never forget that our love for others is always a concrete expression of our love for God,” he explained, “and that, conversely, we cannot say or think that we love God without passing along the path of love—that is, love given to the other who needs me.” He echoes here, and throughout his homily, the words of Leo XIV in his message for the day: “Love is not passive; it goes out to meet the other.”
Working together to be God’s instrument in helping those in need
Compassion leads us beyond ourselves in another way, he noted, creating networks that can do more than any individual. “Only in this way,” he said, “can God Himself continue to respond to the needs of so many, unfolding His saving action through the active commitment of those who, united solely by the desire to serve their brothers and sisters, take on, together, their pain.”
Along these lines, Cardinal Czerny also referenced the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, on whose feast day the World Day of the Sick is celebrated. He makes special mention of the people who welcome the sick there: “They, in the diversity of their ministries tied to the needs of each sick person, together can give much more than, at first glance, could be expected from each one alone.”
The Apostolic Nuncio to Peru, Archbishop Paolo Rocco Gualtieri, was also in attendance, along with bishops and delegates from around Latin America and the Caribbean.
The program began on February 9 and included visits to three hospitals, meetings, and a symposium on “advances in palliative care in Latin America and the spirituality of integral patient care.”
