Pope Leo XIV has chosen the theme  “The Compassion of the Samaritan: Loving by Bearing the Pain of Another” as the motto for the 34th World Day of the Sick, to be celebrated on 11 February 2026. The proposal was officially presented by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development on 26 September 2025.

Inspired by the biblical parable of the Good Samaritan, the message emphasizes what goes beyond verbal or emotional solidarity: authentic compassion is demonstrated through concrete actions. In particular, it emphasizes the need to reach out to the sick who live in particularly vulnerable situations, marked by poverty, social isolation, or physical frailty.

The statement indicates that Christ himself, as the Good Samaritan, draws close to suffering humanity, offering comfort and hope through the sacraments, metaphorically described as “the oil of consolation and the wine of hope.”

The central message calls for a rediscovering of compassion as a path to fraternity, an active commitment through concrete works of love and mercy. Those affected by illness and pain—whether physically or emotionally—are the focus of this call to action.

The World Day of the Sick, instituted in 1992 by Saint John Paul II, is intended to be a privileged moment of prayer, reflection, and closeness. Not only for the ecclesial community, but also for all the society, which is called to recognize the presence of Christ in those who suffer, in the sick, in the most vulnerable.

Theme for the 34th World Day of the Sick, 2026

“The Samaritan’s Compassion: Loving by Bearing the Pain of Another”

“The compassion of the Samaritan: loving by bearing the pain of others” is the theme chosen by the Holy Father for the upcoming World Day of the Sick.

The theme, putting in the centre the evangelical figure of the Samaritan who manifests love by caring for the man suffering after falling into the hands of thieves, seeks to underline this aspect of love for one’s neighbour: love requires concrete gestures of closeness, through which one accepts the suffering of others, especially that of those living in a situation of illness, often in a context of fragility due to poverty, isolation, and loneliness.

Even today, Jesus Christ, the “Good Samaritan,” draws near to wounded humanity to pour out, through the sacraments of the Church, “the oil of consolation and the wine of hope” (Preface to “Jesus the Good Samaritan”), thus inspiring actions and gestures of help and closeness for those living in fragile conditions due to illness.

[Original text: Italian]