Illustration: The Good Samaritan – from a 1860 collection of public domain Christian art
Pope Leo’s message for the World Day of the Sick – proposing the image of the Good Samaritan
February 11, 2026
“The compassion of the Samaritan: to love while carrying the pain of the other”
The Parable of the Good Samaritan – Luke 10:25-37
A lawyer stood up to test Jesus, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus replied, “What does the law say? How do you read it?” The lawyer answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell among robbers. They stripped him, beat him, and left him half dead. Now, by chance, a priest was going down that road. When he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. Likewise, a Levite came to the place, saw him, and passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where the man was. When the Samaritan saw him, he took pity on him. He went to the man and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day, he gave the innkeeper two denarii, saying, “Take care of him, and I will repay you for any additional expenses.” Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He replied, “The one who showed mercy on him.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
Pope Leo’s message
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The 34th World Day of the Sick has been solemnly celebrated on February 11, 2026.
For this occasion, I want to propose once again the image of the Good Samaritan.
The Good Samaritan is always timely and necessary – in order to rediscover the beauty of charity and the social dimension of compassion, and to draw attention to the needy and the suffering, such as the sick.
To a lawyer who asks Jesus “who is the neighbor to love”, Jesus responds by telling the famous parable of a man who was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho, was assaulted by thieves and was left almost dead.
A priest and a Levite passed by, but a Samaritan was filled with compassion and treated his wounds.
He then took him to a nearby inn and paid for him to be taken care of.
I wish to propose a reflection on this biblical passage in which compassion and mercy towards the needy are not reduced to a mere individual effort, but are expanded from the relationship with the assaulted traveller, to include the innkeeper who would care for him..
1 – The gift of encounter: the joy of offering closeness and presence.
We live in a culture of impermanence, immediacy, haste, disposability, and indifference.
This prevents us from stopping to address the needs and suffering around us.
The parable tells us that when the Samaritan saw the wounded man,.
He did not “pass by,” but rather looked at him with an open and attentive gaze, as Jesus would.
This led him to show human closeness and solidarity.
The Samaritan stopped, offered him closeness, healed him with his own hands, took money out of his pocket, and took care of him. Above all, he gave him his time.
Jesus does not teach us who our neighbor is, but rather, how to be a neighbor—how to become neighbors ourselves.
In this regard, we can agree with St. Augustine that the Lord did not want to teach who the man’s neighbor was, but rather, how to become a neighbor.
After all, no one is close to another until they voluntarily approach them.
Therefore, the man who showed mercy was made close.
Love is not passive. It goes out to meet others.
Being close does not depend on physical or social proximity, but on the decision to love.
For this reason, Christians make themselves close to those who suffer, following the example of Christ, the true divine Samaritan who drew near to wounded humanity.
These are not mere philanthropic gestures, but rather, they are signs that demonstrate personal participation in the sufferings of others.
It means giving oneself and going beyond merely satisfying needs to the point where one’s entire self becomes part of the gift.
This charity is nourished by encountering Christ, who gave himself for us out of love.
St. Francis explained this well when he said, speaking of his encounter with lepers: “The Lord led me to them because through them, I discovered the sweet joy of loving.”
The gift of encounter stems from our bond with Jesus Christ, whom we recognize as the Good Samaritan who brought us eternal health.
We make him present when we bow before our wounded brothers and sisters.
St. Ambrose said,
“Since no one is closer to us than the one who heals our wounds, let us love him by seeing our Lord in him.
Let us love him as our neighbor, for there is nothing closer to the body than the head. Let us also love those who imitate Christ and associate themselves with the suffering of the needy for the unity of the body.”
We are one with the One in closeness, presence, and love, received and shared.
Like St. Francis, we enjoy the sweetness of having encountered it.
2 – The shared mission in the care of patients.
St. Luke goes on to say that the Samaritan “was filled with compassion.”
Compassion is a deep emotion that leads to action.
Compassion is an internal feeling that motivates one to commit to helping those in need.
In this parable, compassion is the defining characteristic of active love.
Compassion is neither theoretical nor sentimental; it is translated into concrete actions: the Samaritan approaches, heals, takes responsibility, and cares for the man.
However, he does not act alone: The Samaritan looked for an innkeeper who could take care of the man. We are called to invite others and find ourselves in a ‘we’ that is stronger than the sum of individual parts.”
In my experience as a missionary and bishop in Peru, I have seen many people share mercy and compassion like the Samaritan and the innkeeper.
Family members, neighbors, health professionals, pastoral agents, and many others stop, approach, heal, carry, accompany, and offer what they have.
This gives compassion a social dimension.
This experience takes place in an interweaving of relationships and goes beyond mere individual commitment.
In the Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi te, I referred not only to caring for the sick as an “important part” of the Church’s mission but also as an authentic “ecclesial action” (n. 49).
In it, I quoted St. Cyprian to show how we can verify the health of our society in this dimension:
“This epidemic, which seems so horrible and disastrous, tests the justice of each one and the spirit of men, seeing if the healthy serve the sick, if relatives love one another sincerely, if masters have pity on sick servants, and if doctors do not abandon patients who beg.”
In one, being one means that we truly feel that we are members of a body that bears the Lord’s compassion for the suffering of all men according to our own vocation.
Furthermore, the pain that moves us is not the pain of others; it is the pain of a member of our own body to which our Head commands us to come for the good of all.
In this sense, our pain is identified with Christ’s, and when offered in a Christian way, it accelerates the fulfillment of the Savior’s prayer for unity.
Always moved by love for God, we find ourselves and our neighbor.
In the double commandment, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27), we recognize the primacy of loving God and its direct consequence in how we love and relate to others in all dimensions.
“Love of neighbor is tangible proof of the authenticity of love of God, as the Apostle John attests: ‘No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us.’ God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God and God in them” (1 John 4:12, 16).
Although the objects of this love are distinct—God, our neighbor, and ourselves—and in this sense, we can understand them as distinct loves, they are always inseparable.
The primacy of divine love means that human actions are performed without personal interest or reward but as a manifestation of a love that transcends ritual norms and is expressed through authentic worship. Serving one’s neighbor is loving God in practice.
This dimension also allows us to understand what it means to love ourselves.
It means removing the idea that our self-esteem or sense of dignity should be based on stereotypes of success, career, position, or lineage.
Instead, we should recover our position before God and our brothers and sisters.
As Benedict XVI said, “Human beings are spiritual in nature and are fulfilled in interpersonal relationships. The more they live these relationships authentically, the more their personal identity matures. Man does not value himself by isolating himself, but by relating to others and to God.”
Dear brothers and sisters, “the true remedy for the wounds of humanity is a lifestyle based on fraternal love, which has its roots in the love of God”.
I fervently hope that our Christian lifestyle will never lack this fraternal, “Samaritan”, inclusive, courageous, committed and supportive dimension, which has its deepest roots in our union with God, in faith in Jesus Christ.
Inflamed by this divine love, we will be able to truly give ourselves on behalf of all who suffer, especially our sick, elderly and afflicted brothers and sisters.
Let us raise our prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Health of the Sick, asking for her help for all those who suffer and who need compassion, listening and consolation, and let us implore her intercession with this ancient prayer, which was prayed in the family, for those who live in sickness and pain:
Sweet Mother, do not depart, do not depart from me.
Come with me all the way, and never leave me alone.
Since you protect me so much like a true Mother, let the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit bless me.
I cordially impart my apostolic blessing to all the sick, their families, and those who care for them, as well as to healthcare professionals and workers. I especially bless those taking part in this World Day of the Sick.
