By Ishmael Adibuah
EWTN News
Pope Leo XIV has chosen community as the theme for the 2027 World Day of the Sick.
The Vatican announced the theme on Thursday ahead of the annual celebration on Feb. 11, 2027. It will also mark the 35th anniversary of the day’s establishment by St. John Paul II, which is celebrated on the memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes.
The theme, “The Role of the Community in Caring for Every Person,” was published by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and draws on the narrative of Christ healing a paralytic lowered from the roof (Luke 5:19).
In a press release, the dicastery explained that the Gospel asks all to embrace the commandment to love God and neighbor.
“At the heart of our baptismal call is the commandment of mutual love: love your neighbor, take care of your neighbor,” according to the press release.
“Like the friends of the paralytic, parishes and Christian communities are called to assume the responsibility of caring for those who are alone, the elderly and those who suffer, creating spaces of closeness and of hope.”
In February, Pope Leo sent a message on compassion for the World Day of the Sick 2026. The Shrine of Our Lady of Peace in Chiclayo, Peru, was chosen as the celebration’s international site that year. Leo will visit the shrine during his apostolic journey to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru from Nov. 6–17.
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