Christian World | Pope Leo XIV chose a theme on the community's role in caring for every sick person for the 35th World Day of the Sick on Feb. 11, 2027, Vatican News reports

ACW | November 5, 2026 — Pope Leo XIV has chosen "the role of the community in caring for every person" as the theme for the 35th World Day of the Sick, Vatican News reported on Thursday.

The theme was announced in a statement by the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Vatican News said. Its full wording is: "They lowered him on the stretcher in front of Jesus: The role of the community in caring for every person."

The theme draws on the Gospel of Luke, in which friends lower a paralyzed man through a roof to bring him to Jesus. "Every Christian community, together with civil society, is called to attend to the weakness and suffering of others," the statement said, according to Vatican News.

The 2027 World Day of the Sick falls on Thursday, Feb. 11, 2027, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. Vatican News did not say where the main celebration will be held.

Background: According to Vatican News, the dicastery's statement holds up the friends of the paralyzed man as a model for parishes and Christian communities in caring for the sick, the elderly and those who suffer.

Why it matters: The statement, as quoted by Vatican News, calls care for the sick, the elderly and the suffering a shared task of churches, Christian communities and civil society.

ACW will continue to follow this story.

Source: Vatican News — Pope chooses theme for 2027 World Day of the Sick

Photo: Vatican Media