Catholic Health Care

National Catholic Health Care Week - Sunday, February 2 to Saturday, February 8, 2025.

From February 2 to 8, 2025 we mark National Catholic Health Care Week across Canada, recognizing the important work of Catholic health organizations in our province and across Canada. The week leads into the World Day of the Sick, February 11, a Catholic day of observance established by Pope John Paul II to encourage prayers and reflections for those who are ill and for those who care for them.

At the heart of Catholic health is a deep respect for the intrinsic value and dignity of every human being and a commitment to serving all people, from all backgrounds and faiths—especially those impacted by trauma, stigma, poverty, and isolation.

We pray for care teams who have given much over the past years and continue to walk with all those who are ill, deeply troubled, weary and struggling. We are grateful for our Catholic health ministries as partners in the healing ministry of Jesus, fostering trust, promoting justice and respecting the dignity of every human person—body, mind and soul.

Holding all those who are hurting in our hearts, we ask God to bless the work of Catholic health and we offer our prayers, support, and encouragement for the people of our Catholic health organizations who serve with compassion and courage.

You are encouraged to mark National Catholic Health Care Week with daily reflections and prayers.

Theme: Caring for our Common Home

We are faced not with two separate crises, one environment and the other social, but rather one complex crisis which is both social and environmental. Strategies for a solution demand an integrated approach to combatting poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded and at the same time protecting nature. Pope Francis, Laudato Si’

National Catholic Health Care Week seeks to build understanding and connection with our mission and contribution as a Catholic health community working with others to build a just and caring society where all are seen and heard. It falls on the week leading into The World Day of the Sick on February 11.

This year’s theme “Caring for our Common Home” celebrates the interconnectedness of all creation and helps us to reflect on how our individual and collective actions and our systems—health, social, economic—can promote a healthy world where all can thrive. It emphasizes the integral connection between human health and the health of the planet, echoing Pope Francis’ call to care for the earth as our common home and to embrace an integrated ecology that puts the love at the heart of our ministry into action.

Resources for National Catholic Health Care Week

• Prayers of the Faithful
• Bulletin Announcement
• Daily Reflections and Prayers
• The courageous gift of Catholic health care statement and impact infographic

French resources are available upon request to communications@dol.ca. 

More resources 

Many more resources are available in English and French at www.chac.ca.