Pope Leo closed out his first day in Equatorial Guinea by visiting a psychiatric hospital in a culture where mental illness is often stigmatised, saying God loves each person as they are and seeks their healing. Source: Crux.
During his visit yesterday, the Pope said he has mixed feelings whenever he visits a hospital, and that “on the one hand, I feel sorrow for the patients and their families. On the other, I admire and am comforted by all that is done there each day to serve human life.”
However, he said that each time he visits a hospital, he finds that “joy prevails”.
“It is the joy of meeting in the name of the Lord and of caring for those who are in frail health,” he said.
Pope Leo said he was moved by the testimonies he heard, including a greeting from the director of the facility, who said, “a truly great society is not one that hides its weaknesses, but one that surrounds them with love”.
“This is a principle of a civilisation with Christian roots, for in the course of human history Christ came to redeem and restore to full dignity those who suffer from the stigma of disability,” he said.
The Pope visited the Jean Pierre Olie Psychiatric Hospital, named after a French doctor, as the last event on his schedule after landing in Equatorial Guinea earlier that morning.
After touching down, he held a private meeting with President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo before delivering a speech to national authorities and members of the diplomatic corps, condemning the exploitation of oil and minerals that has long plagued Africa, and calling the country to work for justice and peace.
He then held a cultural event at the León XIV Campus of the National University in Malabo, offering a reflection on the relationship between scientific knowledge and faith, before visiting the hospital.
Olie, who died in 2023, was a specialist in schizophrenia and was considered one of the greatest clinicians in mental illness.
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Pope visits psychiatric hospital in Equatorial Guinea, urges love over stigma (By Elise Ann Allen, Crux)
