Knowing how to care for the weakest is a principle of a "civilization with Christian roots,” Pope Leo XIV said while visiting the Jean-Pierre Olié psychiatric hospital in Malabo on Tuesday, April 21. On the first day of his trip to Equatorial Guinea, the pontiff noted that God loves people just as they are and came down to earth to "care for us."
After meeting with the country's authorities and cultural figures on Tuesday afternoon, the Pope went to the Sampaka neighborhood to visit the Jean-Pierre Olié psychiatric hospital. The facility is named after a French psychiatrist who died in 2023 and provided significant help for the project. Such hospitals are still very rare in Africa.
Founded in 2014, the institution currently hosts about 100 patients. They include people brought by their families due to drug addictions, as well as those hospitalized following an accident. For the past few months, the hospital has been twinned with the Sainte-Anne hospital in Paris.
Accompanied by the facility's director, the Pope toured the hospital and listened to a patient's testimony, which featured a heartfelt poem.
"A truly great society is not one that hides its weaknesses, but one that surrounds them with love."
A civilization of love
In a short speech, Pope Leo XIV explained that he has "mixed feelings" when visiting hospitals. On one hand, he feels "the pain or sadness of those people who are suffering" and sorrow for their families. However, he also feels admiration and comfort for "all that is done there each day to serve human life."
"Today [...] joy and hope prevail," he said, adding that some of the words he had just heard had moved him. He specifically repeated the director's earlier remark: "A truly great society is not one that hides its weaknesses, but one that surrounds them with love."
“This is a principle of a civilization with Christian roots,” the 267th pope pointed out. Jesus "asks us to love our brothers and sisters not just in words, but also in deeds," he said. A care facility like this one can become "a sign of the civilization of love."
Healing the wounds we carry
One patient told him, "Thank you for loving us just as we are." In reply, the Pontiff assured that God loves people just as they are, but "he does not want us to always be sick and in pain." Instead, Jesus came down to earth "to care for us," he noted.
“A hospital, especially one with a Christian mission," must welcome a person "just as they are" and respect their frailty so that they can be "helped to get better according to a holistic vision." In this context, "this spiritual dimension is essential," the pontiff added.
Pope Leo XIV then went to the archbishopric of Malabo, where he spent the night. In the evening, he held a private meeting with the bishops of Equatorial Guinea. On Wednesday, he traveled to Mongomo and Bata, two cities located in the mainland part of the country.
