Pope Leo XIV greets a nun during his visit to the Croix psychiatric hospital, during his first apostolic trip to Lebanon, on Dec. 2, 2025. (Credit: Louisa Gouliamaki/Reuters)
Thinking back, two weeks later, to the striking images of Leon XIV’s visit to Lebanon. Impossible to forget: Sister Marie Makhlouf, mother superior of the Sisters of the Cross, giving a speech at the psychiatric hospital of the Cross in Jal al-Dib, before the pope.Impossible to forget: her gaze, devastated by the suffering of the “forgotten” ones she welcomes each day, and her voice, raw with sobs as she speaks of this “poor” hospital whose survival, even to her, is a mystery. Impossible to forget: her face suddenly lighting up as she turns to Leon XIV, promising us that this glimmer of hope still exists somewhere, somehow, despite everything. Impossible to forget: the loved one of a victim of Aug. 4, the hole at the center of her heart that you can see even if it’s invisible, the burning yet transparent trails of tears down her cheeks. ...
Thinking back, two weeks later, to the striking images of Leon XIV’s visit to Lebanon. Impossible to forget: Sister Marie Makhlouf, mother superior of the Sisters of the Cross, giving a speech at the psychiatric hospital of the Cross in Jal al-Dib, before the pope.Impossible to forget: her gaze, devastated by the suffering of the “forgotten” ones she welcomes each day, and her voice, raw with sobs as she speaks of this “poor” hospital whose survival, even to her, is a mystery. Impossible to forget: her face suddenly lighting up as she turns to Leon XIV, promising us that this glimmer of hope still exists somewhere, somehow, despite everything. Impossible to forget: the loved one of a victim of Aug. 4, the hole at the center of her heart that you can see even if it’s invisible, the burning yet transparent trails of tears down...
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