Metropolitan Ioan of Banat marked his patronal feast last week alongside patients at the Psychiatric Hospital and Security Measures Facility in Jebel, where he also laid the foundation stone for a new church.
On Wednesday, January 7, His Eminence brought the patients more than 300 items of clothing, food, and other essential goods needed for the winter period.
The Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the hospital’s provisional chapel by Fathers Cristian Pavel and Timotei Anișorac, diocesan counsellors.
A place of comfort
The future hospital church will be dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, Saint Paraskeva, and the Holy Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon.
Metropolitan Ioan highlighted the role the future place of worship will play for the patients.
“The church within the hospital grounds is conceived as a place of comfort for all who live in this institution, especially for patients who, for decades, have no longer been able to return to their homes,” he said.
The manager of the Psychiatric Hospital and Security Measures Facility in Jebel, Marius Olar, emphasised the importance of spiritual support. “This spiritual component is very important for the alleviation and treatment of patients,” he told Trinitas TV, thanking the metropolitan for his blessing and support.
More than 400 patients
The church to be built will be made of wood, in the Maramureș architectural style, and will be funded through sponsorships and donations. The Metropolitan of Banat announced that the Archdiocese of Timișoara’s social and heritage departments will support the project.
The Psychiatric Hospital and Security Measures Facility in Jebel is a public healthcare institution under the Ministry of Health, established in 1962. It operates on a pavilion system and treats more than 400 patients with psychiatric conditions.
At present, religious services are conducted in an improvised space by the missionary priest Ion-Vasile Cheregi.
Photo: Metropolis of Banat
