Message from Pope Francis for the World Day of the Sick 2025

The Vatican Press Office today released Pope Francis’ message for the World Day of the Sick 2025, which will be celebrated on February 11 of this year, under the biblical quote: Hope does not disappoint and makes us strong in tribulation

The World Day of the Sick was instituted in 1992 by Saint John Paul II, who established that it be celebrated every February 11, in the liturgical memory of the Virgin of Lourdes.

Below is the full text of Pope Francis’ message:

“Hope does not disappoint” (Rm 5,5)
and makes us strong in tribulation

Dear brothers and sisters:

We celebrate the XXXIII World Day of the Sick in the Jubilee Year 2025, in which the Church invites us to become “pilgrims of hope.” In this we are accompanied by the Word of God which, through Saint Paul, gives us a great message of encouragement: “Hope does not disappoint” (Rm 5,5), what’s more, it makes us strong in tribulation.

They are consoling expressions, but they can raise some questions, especially in those who suffer. For example: how can we remain strong when we first suffer serious, disabling illnesses that may require treatments whose costs go beyond our means? How can we do it when, in addition to our suffering, we see those who love us suffer and who, even though they are by our side, feel helpless for not being able to help us? In all these situations we feel the need for support greater than ourselves: we need the help of God, of his grace, of his Providence, of that strength that is the gift of his Spirit (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church1808).

Let us stop for a moment to reflect on the presence of God that remains close to those who suffer, in particular under three aspects that characterize it: meetinghe don and the share.

1. The meeting. Jesus, when he sent the seventy-two disciples on mission (cf. Lc 10:1-9), exhorted them to say to the sick: “The Kingdom of God is near you” (v. 9). He specifically asked them to help them understand that illness, even when it is painful and difficult to understand, is an opportunity to encounter the Lord. In the time of illness, in fact, if on the one hand we experience all our fragility as creatures—physical, psychological and spiritual—on the other hand, we feel the closeness and compassion of God, who in Jesus has shared our sufferings. He does not abandon us and many times surprises us with the gift of a determination that we would never have thought we would have, and that we would never have found on our own.

The illness then becomes the occasion for an encounter that transforms us; in the discovery of an unbreakable rock to which we can cling to face the storms of life; an experience that, even in sacrifice, makes us stronger, because it makes us more aware that we are not alone. That is why it is said that pain always carries with it a mystery of salvation, because it makes one experience the consolation that comes from God in a close and real way, until “knowing the fullness of the Gospel with all its promises and its life” (St. John Paul II, Speech to young peopleNew Orleans, September 12, 1987).

2. And this leads us to the second point of reflection: the don. Certainly, never as in suffering do we realize that all hope comes from the Lord, and that therefore it is, above all, a gift that we must welcome and cultivate, remaining “faithful to the fidelity of God,” according to the beautiful expression by Madeleine Delbrêl (cf. Hope is a light in the nightVatican City 2024, Preface).

Furthermore, only in the resurrection of Christ do our destinies find their place in the infinite horizon of eternity. Only from his Easter comes us the certainty that nothing, “neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor spiritual powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature can never separate us from the love of God” (Rm 8,38-39). And from this “great hope” derives any other ray of light that allows us to overcome the trials and obstacles of life (cf. Benedict XVI, Letter enc. Spe salvi27.31). Not only that, but the Risen One also walks with us, becoming our traveling companion, as with the disciples of Emmaus (cf. Lc 24,13-53). Like them, we can also share with Him our confusion, our worries and our disappointments, we can listen to His Word that illuminates us and makes our hearts burn, and allows us to recognize Him present in the breaking of the Bread, glimpsing in that being with us, even in the limits of the present, that “beyond” that when approached gives us courage and confidence.

3. And thus we arrive at the third aspect, that of share. The places where there is suffering are often places of exchange, of mutual enrichment. How many times, at the bedside of a sick person, do we learn to wait! How many times, being close to those who suffer, do we learn to believe! How many times, bowing before the needy, love is discovered! That is, we realize that we are “angels” of hope, messengers of God, one for another, all together: sick people, doctors, nurses, family members, friends, priests, religious men and women; and wherever we are: in the family, in dispensaries, in nursing homes, in hospitals and clinics.

And it is important to know how to discover the beauty and magnitude of these encounters of grace and learn to write them in the soul so as not to forget them; keep in your heart the kind smile of a health worker, the grateful and trusting look of a patient, the understanding and attentive face of a doctor or a volunteer, the expectant and restless countenance of a spouse, a child, a grandchild or a dear friend. They are all lights to be treasured because, even in the darkness of trial, they not only give strength, but teach the true taste of life, in love and proximity (cf. Lc 10,25-37).

Dear sick people, dear brothers and sisters who assist those who suffer, in this jubilee You have a special role more than ever. Their journey together, in fact, is a sign for everyone, “a hymn to human dignity, a song of hope” (Open Hope does not disappoint, 11), whose voice goes far beyond the rooms and beds of the sanatoriums where they are located, stimulating and animating in charity “the concert of the entire society” (cf. ibid.), in a harmony that is sometimes difficult to achieve, but precisely for that reason, very sweet and strong, capable of bringing light and warmth where it is most needed.

The entire Church is grateful to them. I am also and I pray for you, entrusting you to Mary, Health of the Sick, through the words with which so many brothers and sisters have addressed her in difficulties:

We take refuge under your protection, Holy Mother of God;
do not reject the supplications that we address to you in our needs,
but deliver us from all danger,
oh always Virgin, glorious and blessed!

I bless you, along with your families and other loved ones, and I ask you, please, not to forget to pray for me.

Rome, Saint John Lateran, January 14, 2025