Congo, Kisangani | "Touching the sick is touching Christ."
Inhabitants of OPERA M praying in the Lourdes Grotto
From a hospital in Congo, the homily of Abbé Victor Mbatu Yuakali for the XXXIV World Day of the Sick (11 February 2026)
Your Excellency,
dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
dear sick people, dear health workers,
Dear members of families, of CEVs and of our parish communities,
authorizing us to celebrate the World Day of the Sick within theKabondo General Referral Hospital, His Excellency the Archbishop entrusts us with a missione deep: to make the Gospel of the mercy at the very heart of human suffering, where life is fragile and hope is often put to the test.
The Christian faith doesn't begin with an explanation of pain. It begins with a presence.
In Jesus Christ, God didn't observe human suffering from afar. He inhabited it. He touched the wounded bodies, he listened to the silent cries, he carried our pains to the cross.
For this reason, the sick person is not only an object of compassion: he is a theological place, a sacred space in which God reveals himself in a particular way.
When Jesus says: "I was sick and you visited me", he establishes a mysterious identity between Him and every suffering person.
Fratelli e sorelle,
touching the sick is touching Christ.
To care for the sick is to serve Christ.
To abandon the sick is to abandon Christ.
It is in this light that we are called today to live a true revolution of the works of mercy.
A non-violent, but evangelical revolution.
A revolution that takes us from occasional charity to organized mercy, from emotional compassion to lasting commitment, from declared faith to embodied faith.
Visiting the sick It can no longer be a simple gesture linked to the liturgical calendar. It must become a style of Church.
A Church that does not reach out to the sick ends up withdrawing into itself. But a Church that places the sick at the center becomes a credible, prophetic and faithful Church to his Lord.
This missione It leads us to promote a holistic care of the sick person.
The sick person is not just a body to be repaired, nor just a soul to be consoled.
It is a whole person: body, heart, spirit, relationships, hope.
Caring without loving dehumanizes. Praying without taking concrete action empties faith of its flesh.
True pastoral care of the sick:
• treats the body with medical expertise,
• supports the heart with a loving presence,
• strengthens the soul with prayer and the sacraments,
• protects dignity with respect,
• restores hope with ecclesial communion.
But this Day is also a time of truth. We must have the evangelical courage to denounce what, even today, dehumanizes the sick.
Yes, brothers and sisters, the sick person is sometimes reduced to a bed number, neglected due to lack of means or will, economically exploited in his vulnerability, abandoned by his family, forgotten by the community.
Sometimes poverty blocks access to care. corruption lock the doors. Theindifference prolongs the suffering. And the solitude becomes more painful than the disease itself.
All of this is a social sin that wounds the Body of Christ.
Every time a sick person is humiliated, it is Jesus who is humiliated. Every time a sick person is ignored, it is Jesus who is ignored.
Today we proclaim forcefully: the sick person is neither an object of profit nor a social burden, but a sacred person.
It is precisely in this spirit that the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, in his message for this World Day of the Sick, invites us to rediscover an essential truth: Where hope is reborn, healing begins.
It reminds us of three fundamental beliefs.
First of all, the absolute centrality of the sick person: it is not a problem to be managed, but a mystery to be accompanied.
Secondly, everyone's co-responsibility: caring for the patient involves healthcare personnel, the family, the CEVs, the parish and society as a whole.
The Pope speaks of a true alliance of closeness around the sick. No one should suffer alone.
Finally, he calls the Church to be close, humble and present: a Church that visits, listens, and remains. A Church that cares with tenderness.
Fratelli e sorelle,
Around the patient must be formed a living communion.
To healthcare workers, the Church says thank you: you are today's Good Samaritans. Your expertise is a gift from God, and your hands often become the very hands of Christ.
To families: you are the first hospital, the first place of patience and loyalty.
To the CEV: you are called to become true cells of pastoral vigilance, capable of identifying, visiting, praying, and mobilizing solidarity.
To the parish: you are called to be an open home, a field hospital, where no one feels abandoned.
Pastoral care of the sick is not just another service: it is a criterion of ecclesial maturity.
Dear brothers and sisters, today Christ does not ask us first of all:
“Did you understand everything?” but: “Where were you when your brother was suffering?”
May our communities become places of true closeness, spaces of organized mercy, witnesses to a hope that heals.
And may Mary, Health of the Sick, teach us to remain faithful at the foot of all human crosses.
Amen.
Kisangani, February 11, 2026
Don Victor MBATU YUAKALI
Director of the Diocesan Pastoral Center
Image
- Picture of spazio + spadoni
From a hospital in Congo, the homily of Abbé Victor Mbatu Yuakali for the XXXIV World Day of the Sick (11 February 2026)
Your Excellency,
dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
dear sick people, dear health workers,
Dear members of families, of CEVs and of our parish communities,
authorizing us to celebrate the World Day of the Sick within theKabondo General Referral Hospital, His Excellency the Archbishop entrusts us with a missione deep: to make the Gospel of the mercy at the very heart of human suffering, where life is fragile and hope is often put to the test.
The Christian faith doesn't begin with an explanation of pain. It begins with a presence.
In Jesus Christ, God didn't observe human suffering from afar. He inhabited it. He touched the wounded bodies, he listened to the silent cries, he carried our pains to the cross.
For this reason, the sick person is not only an object of compassion: he is a theological place, a sacred space in which God reveals himself in a particular way.
When Jesus says: "I was sick and you visited me", he establishes a mysterious identity between Him and every suffering person.
Fratelli e sorelle,
touching the sick is touching Christ.
To care for the sick is to serve Christ.
To abandon the sick is to abandon Christ.
It is in this light that we are called today to live a true revolution of the works of mercy.
A non-violent, but evangelical revolution.
A revolution that takes us from occasional charity to organized mercy, from emotional compassion to lasting commitment, from declared faith to embodied faith.
Visiting the sick It can no longer be a simple gesture linked to the liturgical calendar. It must become a style of Church.
A Church that does not reach out to the sick ends up withdrawing into itself. But a Church that places the sick at the center becomes a credible, prophetic and faithful Church to his Lord.
This missionand leads us to promote a holistic care of the sick person.
The sick person is not just a body to be repaired, nor just a soul to be consoled.
It is a whole person: body, heart, spirit, relationships, hope.
Caring without loving dehumanizes. Praying without taking concrete action empties faith of its flesh.
True pastoral care of the sick:
• treats the body with medical expertise,
• supports the heart with a loving presence,
• strengthens the soul with prayer and the sacraments,
• protects dignity with respect,
• restores hope with ecclesial communion.
But this Day is also a time of truth. We must have the evangelical courage to denounce what, even today, dehumanizes the sick.
Yes, brothers and sisters, the sick person is sometimes reduced to a bed number, neglected due to lack of means or will, economically exploited in his vulnerability, abandoned by his family, forgotten by the community.
Sometimes poverty blocks access to care. corruption lock the doors. Theindifference prolongs the suffering. And the solitude becomes more painful than the disease itself.
All of this is a social sin that wounds the Body of Christ.
Every time a sick person is humiliated, it is Jesus who is humiliated. Every time a sick person is ignored, it is Jesus who is ignored.
Today we proclaim forcefully: the sick person is neither an object of profit nor a social burden, but a sacred person.
It is precisely in this spirit that the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, in his message for this World Day of the Sick, invites us to rediscover an essential truth: Where hope is reborn, healing begins.
It reminds us of three fundamental beliefs.
First of all, the absolute centrality of the sick person: it is not a problem to be managed, but a mystery to be accompanied.
Secondly, everyone's co-responsibility: caring for the patient involves healthcare personnel, the family, the CEVs, the parish and society as a whole.
The Pope speaks of a true alliance of closeness around the sick. No one should suffer alone.
Finally, he calls the Church to be close, humble and present: a Church that visits, listens, and remains. A Church that cares with tenderness.
Fratelli e sorelle,
Around the patient must be formed a living communion.
To healthcare workers, the Church says thank you: you are today's Good Samaritans. Your expertise is a gift from God, and your hands often become the very hands of Christ.
To families: you are the first hospital, the first place of patience and loyalty.
To the CEV: you are called to become true cells of pastoral vigilance, capable of identifying, visiting, praying, and mobilizing solidarity.
To the parish: you are called to be an open home, a field hospital, where no one feels abandoned.
Pastoral care of the sick is not just another service: it is a criterion of ecclesial maturity.
Dear brothers and sisters, today Christ does not ask us first of all:
“Did you understand everything?” but: “Where were you when your brother was suffering?”
May our communities become places of true closeness, spaces of organized mercy, witnesses to a hope that heals.
And may Mary, Health of the Sick, teach us to remain faithful at the foot of all human crosses.
Amen.
Kisangani, February 11, 2026
Don Victor MBATU YUAKALI
Director of the Diocesan Pastoral Center
Image
- Picture of spazio + spadoni
Inhabitants of OPERA M praying in the Lourdes Grotto
