The Vatican announced Saturday, February 7, 2026, that Pope Leo XIV has designated Cardinal Michael Czerny as his special envoy to Peru for the XXXIV World Day of the Sick. The annual event, observed in remembrance of Our Lady of Lourdes, focuses on bringing support and awareness to those experiencing illness and suffering.
Andressa Collet – Vatican News
The World Day of the Sick, celebrated annually on February 11th in memory of Our Lady of Lourdes, serves as a reminder to offer compassion and solidarity to those facing illness, fragility, and suffering. This year’s observance will take place in the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, where Pope Leo XIV previously served as bishop, from February 9th to 11th. The Pope sent a letter to Cardinal Czerny, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, appointing him as his special envoy for the occasion.
The Pope’s Message
The papal delegation will similarly include Father Fidel Purisaca Vigil, director of the local diocese’s communications department, who worked alongside Bishop Robert Prevost during his time in the northern Peruvian city, and Sister Wilson Enrique Gonzales Carbajal, national coordinator of the CEAS Health Pastoral.
In his letter, Pope Leo XIV expressed his frequent and heartfelt remembrance of “the beloved land of Peru, whose faithful, guided by piety and love, seek refuge with confidence under the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary.” He also recalled becoming bishop of the Diocese of Chiclayo in the cathedral dedicated to Mary twelve years prior.
“By divine providence, it so happened that, at the will of Pope Francis of happy memory, the 34th World Day of the Sick would be celebrated precisely in this land of Peru, to express with ever greater intensity the maternal solicitude of the Blessed Virgin Mary for all those afflicted by various pains and illnesses; a will that we ourselves welcomed with gratitude and, with the favorable opinion of the Conference of Bishops of Peru, gladly confirmed, determining that the aforementioned Day of 2026 take place and be solemnly celebrated in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Peace, in the diocese of Chiclayo, where We ourselves, in the past, have invoked on several occasions the facilitate of God in prayer.”
The Pope also used the letter to invite the Church worldwide to pray “for all the faithful sick affected by illnesses, pathologies or pains,” humbly requesting that they “supported by this maternal intercession, may kindly offer to merciful God, through Mary, for the peace of this world, all the discomforts of their own life.” To fulfill the Pontiff’s mandate, Leo XIV declared Cardinal Czerny as his extraordinary envoy to the event, to preside over the sacred rites on behalf of the Pope, “bringing to the Christian faithful gathered there, among whom especially all the sick, the comfort and encouragement of the consolation of the Gospel coming from the ineffable communion of Christ, who promised to be with us in all circumstances, every day, until the end of the world.”
Concluding the letter, and before offering an apostolic blessing to all participants in the World Day of the Sick, Leo XIV exhorted all to “bear witness to the theological virtues – faith, hope and charity – and to human and Christian closeness in need, bearing one another’s burdens and thus fulfilling the law of Christ from the bottom of their hearts.”
