Pope Leo XIV has called on Christians to embrace compassion as a core expression of their faith in his message for the 34th World Day of the Sick, to be celebrated on 11 February in Chiclayo, Peru. The message was published on Tuesday, 20 January, and centres on the parable of the Good Samaritan as a powerful invitation to resist indifference and respond actively to human suffering.
In his reflection, the Holy Father criticises a contemporary culture marked by haste, urgency, and rejection, noting that such attitudes often prevent people from stopping, seeing, and drawing close to those who suffer.
Through the parable of the Good Samaritan, the Pope proposes a different way of living, one that does not pass by pain but allows itself to be moved by it and transformed into concrete action.
The choice of Chiclayo as the host city for this year’s celebration is deeply symbolic. Pope Leo XIV recalled that he spent decisive years of his life there as a missionary and later as a bishop. It was during this time, he said, that he encountered human suffering firsthand and learned the meaning of mercy expressed through presence, care, and responsibility.
Drawing from his experience in Peru, the Pontiff highlighted how families, neighbours, health professionals, and pastoral workers often come together to support the sick. These acts of solidarity, he noted, give compassion a strong social dimension and demonstrate how care for the suffering can become a shared responsibility.
The Pope emphasised that caring for the sick is not merely one of the Church’s charitable activities, but a true ecclesial action that reveals the spiritual health of society itself.
When suffering is embraced in solidarity, he said, it ceases to isolate individuals and instead becomes a place of communion. Pain is no longer that of a stranger, but “the pain of a part of our own body,” calling everyone to responsibility.
In the final part of his message, Pope Leo XIV reflected on the inseparable relationship between love for God, love for neighbour, and love for self. Service to those who suffer, he explained, is an authentic form of worship, one that goes beyond ritual observance and is lived out through self-giving love.
Concluding his message, the Pope expressed his hope that the Christian way of life will always be marked by a Samaritan attitude, fraternal, inclusive, courageous, and supportive, rooted in communion with God and faith in Jesus Christ. He entrusted all the sick, their families, and caregivers to the loving intercession of Our Lady.
