Pope Leo brings message of peace to Lebanon after leaving Turkey

Pope Leo He has preached similar messages of peace and unity, within his own Catholic community and more broadly, during his previous stops in Türkiye.

Leon had two key meetings in Istanbul before flying to Beirut: a prayer at the Armenian Apostolic Cathedral and a divine liturgy with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, whose invitation to commemorate an important Christian anniversary was the impetus for Leon’s visit.

Leo entered the Armenian cathedral in a cloud of incense while a choir sang. He praised “the courageous Christian witness of the Armenian people throughout history, often in tragic circumstances.” This was a reference to the massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks during World War I.

Pope Francis called the massacre a “genocide”, angering Turkey, which denies the existence of a genocide. Leo was more diplomatic in his remarks on Turkish soil.

During his stay in Türkiye, the Pope also visited the Istanbul Palace Blue Mosquea historic Ottoman-era structure that has become a popular site with tourists.

“The Pope visited the mosque in silence, in a spirit of reflection and listening, with deep respect for the place and the faith of those gathered there in prayer,” the Holy See press service said in a statement. He was accompanied by Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Istanbul Provincial Mufti Emrullah Tuncel and Grand Imam of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (the Blue Mosque) Kurra Hafız Fatih Kaya.

On the second leg of his first papal trip, Leo will visit Lebanon at a precarious time for the small Mediterranean country after years of successive crises. He is fulfilling a promise from Pope Francis, who had wanted to visit him for years, but was unable to do so due to his deteriorating health.

Francis often cited St. John Paul II who, in 1989, said that Lebanon was more than just a country. It was a “message”, a message of fraternity and coexistence. In Lebanon’s power-sharing system, the country’s president is always a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim and the speaker of parliament a Shiite.

Lebanon, a predominantly Muslim country where about a third of the population is Christian, has always been a priority for the Vatican, a bulwark for Christians throughout the region. After years of conflict, Christian communities dating back to the time of the Apostles have dwindled.

Leo was expected to try to encourage Lebanese who believe their leaders have failed them, and to encourage Lebanese Christians to stay or, if they have already moved abroad, to return home.

“The Holy Father comes at a very difficult time for Lebanon and for our region,” said Archbishop George of the Greek-Melkite Catholic Archeparchy of Beirut. The Lebanese are worried about the future, he said, and still fear a possible return to all-out war with Israel.

“At this difficult moment, the pope’s visit is a sign of hope. It shows that Lebanon is not forgotten,” he told reporters before his visit.

In 2019, the country’s currency and banking system collapsed and many Lebanese saw their savings evaporate. The financial crisis has caused shortages of electricity, fuel and medicine.

Another disaster followed in 2020, when hundreds of tons of improperly stored ammonium nitrate in Beirut’s port exploded in an explosion that ravaged surrounding neighborhoods, killing 218 people, injuring thousands more and causing billions of dollars in damage.

The highlight of Leo’s visit to Lebanon will be on his last day, December 2, when he will spend time in silent prayer at the site of the August 4, 2020 explosion and meet some of its victims.

Lebanese citizens were furious at the explosion, which appeared to be the result of government negligence, adding to the economic crisis. But the investigation has repeatedly stalled and, five years later, no one responsible has been convicted.

The Lebanese hope that Leo will demand accountability from the Lebanese political class and insist that there can be no peace without truth and justice.

Another important moment will come when Leo meets young Lebanese people. He is expected to offer them words of encouragement, amid decades of fleeing abroad, while acknowledging their disillusionment with the failures of generations before them.

After the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked the Gaza War, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah entered a low-intensity conflict with Israel that escalated into a full-fledged war in September 2024, killing more than 4,000 people in Lebanon and causing widespread destruction.

Despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that theoretically ended the conflict two months later, Israel continues to launch near-daily airstrikes that it says are aimed at preventing Hezbollah from rebuilding.

The pope “comes to bless us and for peace,” said Farah Saadeh, a Beirut resident walking on the city’s seaside promenade. “We have to wait and see what happens after he leaves, and we hope nothing happens after he leaves.”

Before Leon’s arrival, Hezbollah urged the pope to express his “rejection of the injustice and aggression” of which the country is a victim. This was a reference to Israeli strikes. The group also urged supporters to line up along the route the papal convoy will take from the airport to the presidential palace to pay their respects.

Hezbollah – a primarily Shiite group – has allied itself with several Christian political groups in the country, including the Free Patriotic Movement and the Marada Movement.

However, the Christian party with the largest parliamentary bloc, the Lebanese Forces, is an opponent of Hezbollah and has criticized the group for dragging the country into war with Israel.

In neighboring Syria, hundreds of thousands of Christians fled during the 14-year civil war.

The country’s former autocratic President Bashar Assad has been ousted during an offensive led by Islamist insurgents last December. Since then, there have been outbreaks of sectarian violence and some attacks against religious minorities, including a suicide attack on a church in Damascus in June.

While the new government has condemned attacks against minorities, many accuse it of looking the other way or being incapable of controlling allied armed groups.

A delegation of some 300 Syrian Christians, led by a Greek Melkite Catholic priest, was due to travel to Lebanon to attend a meeting between Leon and youth groups and to pray at a public mass on the Beirut waterfront.

“We need someone like the pope to come and give us hope as Christians” at a time of “fear of an unknown future,” said Dima Awwad, 24, one of the delegation members. “We hope that the pope will come and visit Syria as he visited Lebanon, to reassure the people and feel that we are present as Christians of the East and that we must be in this place.”