Catholic Health Care

National Catholic Health Care Week - Sunday, February 1 to Saturday, February 7, 2026.

This year, National Catholic Health Care Week reflects on our shared calling to open our hearts and create a community of healing and hope where every person is valued, included, and supported to flourish. Through stories, reflections, and moments of prayer, the Week invites us to explore how Catholic social thought continues to shape our commitment to accompany one another with compassion, uphold human dignity, and foster belonging for all. 

Focus: Open Hearts, Healing, Hope 

We belong to each other. -- St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) 

Community is not simply something we belong to; it is something we actively create with caring and open hearts. Catholic social thought reminds us that our lives are bound together in a web of relationships, responsibilities, and hope. When we honour the dignity of every person, act with compassion, participate in shaping our shared life, and seek justice with courage and humility, we foster healing and strengthen the fabric of community on which human wellbeing depends. 

National Catholic Health Care Week helps deepen understanding of our mission and contribution as a Catholic health community working alongside others to build a just and caring society where everyone is seen, heard, and valued. 

This year, the Week leads into the World Day of the Sick on February 11 — a day instituted by Pope John Paul II to encourage prayer, reflection, and solidarity with those who are ill and those who care for them. It is a fitting moment to consider how healing extends beyond treatment to include belonging, accompaniment, participation, and hope. 

Our 2026 theme, Open Hearts, Healing, Hope, invites us to reflect on the ways our individual and collective actions — in our homes, workplaces, communities, and health systems — strengthen the bonds of care and the conditions that allow people to thrive. It echoes the enduring call of Catholic social teaching to build a society grounded in dignity, compassion, mutual responsibility, and justice. 

As a Catholic health community, we work with many partners — within our Catholic tradition, throughout the health and social sectors, and across communities — to contribute to and shape an evolving health system rooted in respect for the whole person. National Catholic Health Care Week invites us to put the love at the heart of our ministry into action and to reflect on what it means to create spaces of welcome, healing, and belonging. 

Each day, may we all work to foster dignity, support those who are most vulnerable, and create stronger, more connected communities. During National Catholic Health Care Week, we invite all to reflect on and share the story of our shared mission to offer healing, hope, and community for all. 

The Courageous Gift of Catholic Health Care 

As Catholic health organizations across Canada, we are united in a 400-year healing mission and are inspired by a calling to care for all with compassion and humanity—body, mind and spirit. This week is an invitation to learn more about the role, value and impact of Catholic health care in Canada and to be vocal, informed supporters of Catholic health care and the healing ministry of Jesus in Canada. The Courageous Gift expresses the heart of our work, rooted in the Gospel and the legacy of our founding congregations.

Resources for National Catholic Health Care Week

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