The fifth annual National Catholic Health Care Week will take place from Sunday, February 4 to Saturday, February 10, 2024.
National Catholic Health Care Week leads into The World Day of the Sick on 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 all those who care for them.
This year’s theme “Building Bridges” speaks to the gift of Catholic health as a sign of hope in the world and offers each person in their journey to care for themselves or others some words of blessing and hope.
As Catholic health, we strive each day to be a compassionate presence in a broken world, to work together with those we serve, caregivers, and our communities and partners to create safe, welcoming environments where all are seen and heard and can find hope. As innovators and advocates, we contribute to and help shape an ever-evolving health system, drawing on our Catholic values, and a legacy of innovation and ethical reflection.
This year’s theme encourages and inspires us all to nurture hope through our individual and organizational efforts to foster connections, belonging, healing, wellbeing and purpose.
“Your health care ministry is one of the most vital apostolates of the ecclesial community and one of the most significant services which the Catholic Church offers to society in the name of Jesus Christ,” says Patrick Daly, President of the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association (OCSTA), the provincial organization that represents Ontario’s 29 English Catholic school boards.
“Similar to the treasured gift of publicly funded Catholic education in Ontario, we know that the goodness and sacrifice of religious Sisters, other religions and faith filled lay people built the strong foundation of compassionate and high quality faith based health care we enjoy in our province and country today. Throughout its history, Catholic health care institutions and those who selflessly serve in them have given witness to the healing presence of Jesus Christ.”
This begins in acknowledging the deep and lingering scars from the pandemic in our health system and society—high levels of loneliness, isolation, chronic illness, fatigue, stress, mental illness and addiction, and economic uncertainty.
This Week is an opportunity to reflect on this mission of hope and to share stories about how we work with many partners—in our Catholic community, our health system and beyond—to foster hope and healing in ourselves, our communities and our society: to make life-giving connections, welcome each other in community, foster healing and wellness—body, mind and soul—and find purpose and meaning in our calling and our circumstances.
Learn more about National Catholic Health Care Week at:
https://www.chac.ca/en/national-catholic-health-care-week/
A video on Catholic Health Care
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwElBAljLMc/
