Africa, Congo | Pastoral Care of the Sick: A Revolution of Mercy
Photo by Richard Nyoni on Unsplash
In light of the Day celebrated yesterday, February 11, Abbé Victor Mbatu proposes a pastoral care in which the sick and the Church meet in mercy.
1) “I was sick and you came to visit me”
Illness is one of the most universal and destabilizing human experiences: it weakens the body, shakes the spirits, upends relationships, and often tests faith.
It affects four dimensions (physical, psychological, social and spiritual) and, in our contexts, is sometimes aggravated by poverty, the distance from health facilities, loneliness, stigmatization (of some diseases) and family exhaustion.
The Church, therefore, cannot remain a spectator: it is sent into places of suffering. Visiting the sick is not a secondary activity, but a central expression of the Gospel, a concrete place where charity becomes visible.
In the scene of the final judgment (Mt 25), Jesus reveals something decisive:
• the criterion of the Kingdom is played out in lived love;
• the sick person is not just someone to be helped: he is a place of encounter with Christ;
• visiting the sick becomes an act of incarnate faith: serving others means touching Christ.
Thus, pastoral care of the sick is not simply a “social work”: it is a response to the Lord himself.
How to move from a spontaneous but irregular compassion to a comprehensive, organised, fraternal, spiritual and concrete care, so that our parishes become true communities of mercy, where no patient feels abandoned?
2) Meaning of the expression: "revolution of mercy"
Talking about “revolution” here means:
• change mentality: the sick person is not on the margins, but at the centre of Christian concern;
• change pastoral style: fewer speeches, more presence;
• change organization: move from isolated gestures to a structured, lasting and community-based pastoral care;
• change heart: learn active, patient, humble compassion.
It is a gentle but profound revolution – the mercy as a habitual way of living the Church – for which it is necessary to implement a pastoral care of the sick inspired by Mt 25:36, as a concrete sign of Christ's mercy.
How?
With specific objectives:
1. Understand the biblical and theological foundations of visiting the sick;
2. Understand its human and spiritual dimensions;
3. Identify pastoral actors and their roles (priests, catechists, CEV, families, young people);
4. Propose realistic actions: visits, listening, prayer, sacraments, support, coordination;
5. Inspire community commitment: make the parish a “house of mercy.”
With a short pedagogical path that includes a simple method in four movements:
1. See: listen to the reality of the sick (testimonies, observations).
2. Understand: enlighten with the Word of God and the teachings of the Church.
3. Take action: organize the visit and comprehensive support.
4. Celebrate: prayer, sacraments, thanksgiving, sending.
The sick are not only beneficiaries of our help, but a living sacrament of Christ's presence. And they never lose their dignity.
Even if fragile or unconscious, he remains an image of God, a member of the Body of Christ, a bearer of a spiritual vocation.
This implies: respect, patient listening, rejection of any stigmatization, and non-judgmental accompaniment.
In Luke (4,18), Jesus defines his missione: «He sent me to bring good news to the poor… to restore sight to the blind, to free the oppressed».
3) Mercy: the heart of the missionand Christian
Healing and care for the vulnerable are an integral part of the proclamation of the Gospel. Already in Isaiah (53:4), the Suffering Servant is the one who bears our illnesses: Christian tradition recognizes Christ in him, in solidarity with all human suffering.
Biblically, illness thus becomes a privileged place of revelation of God and the sick person makes the suffering Christ visible.
When we enter a home or a hospital room, we are not just visiting a person, we are entering holy ground.
The pastoral care of the sick is therefore:
• a liturgy of presence,
• a ministry of compassion,
• a contemplation of Christ crucified and risen.
The revolution of mercy begins here: recognizing Jesus in the fragile body of another.
Mercy is not a pastoral option: it is the very identity of God.
In the Bible, God is the One who sees the misery, hears the cry, and comes down to save.
Jesus takes up this dynamic again:
• touches the lepers,
• listen to the blind,
• raises the paralytics,
• reaches out to the excluded.
By virtue of all this, visiting the sick is direct participation in the missione of Christ. Without lived mercy, faith becomes abstract.
Image
- Picture of Richard Nyoni su Unsplash
In light of the Day celebrated yesterday, February 11, Abbé Victor Mbatu proposes a pastoral care in which the sick and the Church meet in mercy.
1) “I was sick and you came to visit me”
Illness is one of the most universal and destabilizing human experiences: it weakens the body, shakes the spirits, upends relationships, and often tests faith.
It affects four dimensions (physical, psychological, social and spiritual) and, in our contexts, is sometimes aggravated by poverty, the distance from health facilities, loneliness, stigmatization (of some diseases) and family exhaustion.
The Church, therefore, cannot remain a spectator: it is sent into places of suffering. Visiting the sick is not a secondary activity, but a central expression of the Gospel, a concrete place where charity becomes visible.
In the scene of the final judgment (Mt 25), Jesus reveals something decisive:
• the criterion of the Kingdom is played out in lived love;
• the sick person is not just someone to be helped: he is a place of encounter with Christ;
• visiting the sick becomes an act of incarnate faith: serving others means touching Christ.
Thus, pastoral care of the sick is not simply a “social work”: it is a response to the Lord himself.
How to move from a spontaneous but irregular compassion to a comprehensive, organised, fraternal, spiritual and concrete care, so that our parishes become true communities of mercy, where no patient feels abandoned?
2) Meaning of the expression: "revolution of mercy"
Talking about “revolution” here means:
• change mentality: the sick person is not on the margins, but at the centre of Christian concern;
• change pastoral style: fewer speeches, more presence;
• change organization: move from isolated gestures to a structured, lasting and community-based pastoral care;
• change heart: learn active, patient, humble compassion.
It is a gentle but profound revolution – mercy as a habitual way of living the Church – for which it is necessary to implement a pastoral care of the sick inspired by Mt 25:36, as a concrete sign of Christ's mercy.
How?
With specific objectives:
1. Understand the biblical and theological foundations of visiting the sick;
2. Understand its human and spiritual dimensions;
3. Identify pastoral actors and their roles (priests, catechists, CEV, families, young people);
4. Propose realistic actions: visits, listening, prayer, sacraments, support, coordination;
5. Inspire community commitment: make the parish a “house of mercy.”
With a short pedagogical path that includes a simple method in four movements:
1. See: listen to the reality of the sick (testimonies, observations).
2. Understand: enlighten with the Word of God and the teachings of the Church.
3. Take action: organize the visit and comprehensive support.
4. Celebrate: prayer, sacraments, thanksgiving, sending.
The sick are not only beneficiaries of our help, but a living sacrament of Christ's presence. And they never lose their dignity.
Even if fragile or unconscious, he remains an image of God, a member of the Body of Christ, a bearer of a spiritual vocation.
This implies: respect, patient listening, rejection of any stigmatization, and non-judgmental accompaniment.
In Luke (4,18), Jesus defines his missione: «He sent me to bring good news to the poor… to restore sight to the blind, to free the oppressed».
3) Mercy: the heart of the missionand Christian
Healing and care for the vulnerable are an integral part of the proclamation of the Gospel. Already in Isaiah (53:4), the Suffering Servant is the one who bears our illnesses: Christian tradition recognizes Christ in him, in solidarity with all human suffering.
Biblically, illness thus becomes a privileged place of revelation of God and the sick person makes the suffering Christ visible.
When we enter a home or a hospital room, we are not just visiting a person, we are entering holy ground.
The pastoral care of the sick is therefore:
• a liturgy of presence,
• a ministry of compassion,
• a contemplation of Christ crucified and risen.
The revolution of mercy begins here: recognizing Jesus in the fragile body of another.
Mercy is not a pastoral option: it is the very identity of God.
In the Bible, God is the One who sees the misery, hears the cry, and comes down to save.
Jesus takes up this dynamic again:
• touches the lepers,
• listen to the blind,
• raises the paralytics,
• reaches out to the excluded.
By virtue of all this, visiting the sick is direct participation in the missionand of Christ. Without lived mercy, faith becomes abstract.
Image
- Picture of Richard Nyoni su Unsplash
Photo by Richard Nyoni on Unsplash
