On the last day in his apostolic journey to Lebanon, Pope Leo visited one of the largest psychiatric institutions in the Middle East, the Hospital of the Cross.
The Hospital treats over 2,000 patients every year and is run by the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Cross. It was founded in 1919 by a Capuchin priest.
The Pope praised the doctors, staff, and religious sisters, who care for the patients treated there. He thanked them for their humble witness to the Gospel.
POPE LEO XIV
Your competent and attentive presence, as well as your care for the sick, are a tangible sign of Christ’s compassionate love. You are like the Good Samaritan who stops beside the wounded person and cares for him in order to lift him up and heal him.
Inspired by the witness of the hospital staff, Pope Leo recalled our own responsibility to care for the most vulnerable, and to remember the fragile nature of human life.
POPE LEO XIV
What is lived in this place is a clarion call for everyone—for your land, but also for all of humanity: we cannot forget the most vulnerable; we cannot imagine a society rushing forward at full speed, clinging to false myths of well-being while ignoring the many situations of poverty and fragility.
The Pope also addressed the patients themselves, reminding them they are loved by God. Something we should never forget.
