This Sunday, parishes across the Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth are being invited to support a leading Catholic charity’s mission to eradicate leprosy.

St Francis Leprosy Guild (SFLG), the UK’s Catholic Leprosy Charity, is encouraging parishes to dedicate a Sunday Service or short event to raise awareness of the disease and the vital care and support provided to those affected.

Each year, around 200,000 new cases of leprosy are diagnosed worldwide. Although the disease is difficult to catch, doctors are still unsure how it is spread. If left undiagnosed, leprosy attacks nerve endings, destroying the ability to feel pain and injury. The disease is often linked to poverty, malnutrition and unsafe drinking water.

Awareness days, like World Leprosy Day this Sunday, offer an important reminder of this illness – one that many people think no longer exists – and highlight how local action, faith and prayer can make a difference globally.

For more information about World Leprosy Day (Sunday 25 January 2026), and how you can support this initiative, please click here. A downloadable toolkit is also available, including posters, logos and bidding prayers to help support your parish event.

To keep up to date with local initiatives through our diocesan charity, Caritas, please click this link.