BEIRUT, Lebanon (RNS) – For Eissam, a 24-year-old Lebanese man who is battling drug addiction, the Psychiatric Hospital of the Cross in Jal ed Dib, just North of Beirut, and the Catholic nuns who run it are nothing short of family.
“The sisters here are like our sisters and brothers and mothers and parents for us. They care about us,” he told Religion News Service in an interview at the facility on Monday (Dec. 1).
Eissam, the full names of the patients are not shared for privacy reasons, was among the small group that greeted Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday (Dec. 2) when he visited the hospital on his two-day trip Lebanon. He hopes that by coming to the hospital, the pope will help reduce the stigma that still surrounds mental illness, addiction and disability in the country.
“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,” Leo said during his visit, praising the work of the nuns at the hospital.
Eissam said that he longed for the pope to “see Jesus in the people in here at the Cross Hospital, the people who are left behind from society, from their parents, from everyone.” Like many in the country, Eissam has faced the challenge of a struggling economy, conflict between Isreal and Hezbollah and the tragic aftermath of the deadly 2020 Beirut port explosion.
According to the World Health Organization, 70% of people are suffering from mental disorders in the Middle East, with the number rising to almost 90% in conflict areas. The region also has the highest instances of clinical depression and anxiety, according to a 2023 Global Burden of Disease study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.
Given the economic collapse and recuring conflict, Lebanon shows some of the highest trauma indicators in the region. According to a report by the non-governmental organization Embrace, there were 168 suicides in Lebanon in 2023, a 21.7% increase compared to the previous year. Cannabis and prescription drug addiction is also on the rise, according to a 2021 European Union Drugs Agency web survey.
But religious and social taboos still stigmatize addiction, mental illness and even suicide, making data often incomplete.
The Hospital of the Cross is one of the largest hospitals for the mentally ill in the Middle East and currently cares to about 800 patients. It was founded by Blessed Rev. Abouna Yacoub, a capuchin friar, who sought to help a fellow priest struggling with mental illness. When people saw what he was doing in the hills near Beirut, they started bringing other patients for him to care for. Yaaqoub taught the Franciscan Sisters of the Cross, which he founded, how to care for the mentally ill without prejudice for religious, cultural or ethnic background. He established the hospital for the mentally disabled in 1951.
Yaaqoub told the sisters who today run the hospital: “If you knew whom you are serving, you would serve them on your knees.” For Sister Micheline Njeim that message is a reminder that “we are called to find the suffering Christ in each of our patients.” During the meeting with Leo, the Superior General, Mother Marie Makhlouf, asked that the pope consider making their founder a saint.
Njeim told RNS that many of the patients arrive at the hospital with anxiety disorders, severe depression, and trauma linked to the loss of loved ones, to violence, and even to socio-economic instability. It is up to the nuns, and a team of specialized doctors, nurses and staff, to care for the patients suffering a range of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorders.
She said that the recent tragic and traumatic events in Lebanon “have left deep marks” on people, worsening existing disorders. “Patients no longer come with a single trauma but with a succession of unresolved trials. We see more post-traumatic stress disorder, panic disorders, suicidal thoughts, and greater psychological fragility among already vulnerable people,” she said.
Samir, a Druze Muslim and a patient at the facility for the past 20 years, said he is grateful to be treated by the nuns who make no distinction for religious affiliation. “Maybe I will stay here till the end of my life. But I am very glad to be in this monastery, especially given the situation we have had in Lebanon,” he said.
For George, a Maronite Christian, the pope’s visit is an opportunity to spread “a message of love and coexistence between Christians and Muslims” in Lebanon, so that they may “cooperate together and work together and see the same vision together for a happy future for them, for their children.”
Pope Leo also visited the St. Dominique floor dedicated to children and young adults with intellectual and physical disabilities – including autism, epilepsy, cerebral palsy and Down syndrome – for a private meeting. According to a 2021-2022 study by UNICEF, 70% of children in Lebanon show signs of severe emotional distress, with rates “among the highest ever recorded in the region.”
There are 58 children who are currently treated at the facility, 35 of whom are completely dependent on the staff for their basic needs.
When the Christmas holidays arrive, many of them will have no place to go since their families have essentially disavowed them, according to hospital staff. “Around 40% of the families do not come to visit,” said Dr. Fouad Tahan, a psychiatrist at the facility, adding that many families in the country don’t accept or recognize mental illness or disability.
He said that one of the major challenges for the hospital is financial, because it receives no support from the state, which is undergoing a deep economic crisis. The hospital relies on donations and the hard work of the sisters to support itself, he said, but the costs of living and the medicines necessary to treat the patients are very expensive.
“We hope the pope’s visit gives us the peace that we need everywhere. Our team is doing their best to translate this peace to the kids, who need most of all to be joyful and stay with us instead of families that are not taking care of them well,” Tahan said.
Njeim said that Leo asked to go down to visit the young people being cared for at the hospital. “I hope his presence will remind everyone that they are loved by God exactly as they are — and that psychological wounds are not a shame,” she said, adding that she believes the pope’s presence “will remind the whole world of the value and dignity of the mentally ill.”
She said she is convinced “without a doubt” that Leo’s visit will help reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness in Lebanon. “When the Pope enters a psychiatric hospital, he sends a clear message: mental health is a human reality.
His visit can open hearts, free families from fear or shame of having a mentally ill relative and give courage to those who hesitate to seek help. It can also encourage society to view mental illness with greater respect and compassion.”
