“I wanted to come because Jesus dwells in this place,” said Pope Leo XIV while visiting the Hospital of the Cross, a psychiatric hospital in Jal ed Dib, Lebanon, on the morning of December 2, 2025.
He expressed his support for the medical and charitable sector, which has been severely affected by the economic and social crisis that Lebanon has been experiencing for several years.
At times, you may experience fatigue or discouragement, especially given the challenging conditions in which you often work. I encourage you not to lose the joy of this mission. Despite the difficulties, keep before your eyes the good you are able to accomplish. In God’s eyes, it is a great work!
Greeted by jubilant crowds along the roads leading from the nunciature to Jal ed Dib, a town a few kilometers north of Beirut, the Pope arrived at the Hospital of the Cross shortly after 8:30 a.m. (local time).
This facility, unique in the Middle East, cares for 800 patients, both Christian and Muslim, with various disabilities, including severe mental health issues.
The patients were smiling and exuberant in welcoming the Pope and he responded with visible joy and closeness.
Dear brothers and sisters who are burdened by illness, I would like to remind you that you are close to the heart of God our Father. He holds you in the palm of his hand; he accompanies you with love; and he offers you his tenderness through the hands and smiles of those who care for you.
To each of you, the Lord says again today: I love you, I care for you, you are my child. Never forget this.
The hospital stands as a testimony, not just for Lebanon but for the entire world, insisted Pope Leo, speaking in French, with Arabic translation.
What is lived in this place stands as a clear reminder to all — to your country, but also to the whole human family. We cannot forget those who are most fragile. We cannot conceive of a society that races ahead at full speed clinging to the false myths of wellbeing, while at the same time ignoring so many situations of poverty and vulnerability.
Particularly as Christians, as the Church of the Lord Jesus, we are called to care for the poor. The Gospel itself asks this of us, and we must not forget that the cry of the poor, echoed throughout Scripture, challenges us. “On the wounded faces of the poor, we see the suffering of the innocent and, therefore, the suffering of Christ himself” (Leo XIV Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi Te, 9).
"We need everything"
Sometimes very young and abandoned, the children at the hospital are most often cared for free of charge. The hospital was founded in 1919 by Blessed Father Jacques de Ghazir (1875-1954), a Lebanese Capuchin.
“We take care of the children as soon as the doctor gives us the diagnosis of a psychiatric illness, even if the family has no money,” explained Sister Wardie, a nun from the Franciscan Sisters of the Cross — an order founded by Father Jacques de Ghazir — which runs the hospital and 17 other charitable institutions in the country.
“With the crisis, we need everything: medicine, food, sheets, everything,” she said, expressing her hope that the Pope will soon announce the canonization of their founder.
"Our mission is a daily miracle, as those who have experienced it can attest. How has a humble institution, devoid of all resources, been able to remain steadfast in the face of the horrors of explosions, famine, epidemics, and the collapse of state institutions?" said the superior of the congregation, Mother Marie Makhlouf, who struggled to contain her tears in her testimony before the Pope.
Government funds ran out
In an interview with I.MEDIA, Vincent Gelot, director of projects for L'Œuvre d'Orient in Lebanon and Syria, explained that with the severe economic crisis hitting the country, Lebanese charitable organizations — such as the Hospital of the Cross — have been abandoned by the state, suffering a total loss estimated at $148 million.
In front of several hundred patients and hospital employees gathered in a room renamed “Leo XIV Hall,” the pontiff expressed in French his gratitude for the “message of hope” sent by all those involved in the running of the hospital “despite the difficulties.”
“This is a great work in the eyes of God!” he assured them, visibly touched by the very warm welcome he received.
“What is happening in this place is an exhortation for everyone; for your land, but also for all of humanity,” insisted the head of the Catholic Church.
He criticized “a society that rushes at full speed, clinging to false myths of well-being and ignoring the many situations of poverty and fragility,” urging people not to forget the “cry of the poor.” Finally, turning to the patients, he assured them that God held them “in the palm of his hands.”
Pope concludes his visit
The evening before, the pope had received leaders of the Muslim communities in private at the nunciature: Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian, Grand Mufti of Lebanon (Sunni), Sheikh Ali al-Khatib (Shiite), Sheikh Ali Kaddour (Alawite), and Sheikh Sami Abu al-Muna (Druze).
During the meeting, they discussed “good relations between the different religious communities” and the hope for an end to “the violence that hinders serenity and life” in the country, according to the Holy See Press Office.
On Tuesday, the pontiff's last day in Lebanon, the pope participated in a prayer service at 9:30 a.m. (8:30 a.m.) at the site of the Beirut port explosion. He then celebrated Mass at 10:30 a.m. (9:30 a.m.) on the Beirut waterfront, concluding his apostolic journey.
