Pope urges Lebanese leaders to shun partisanship, fix broken country

Pope wants fractious politicians to agree on new government

This handout picture taken and released by the Vatican Media on July 01, 2021 shows Pope Francis (R) smiling to Patriarch of Antioch and All the East for the Syriac Catholic Church, Ignatius Youssef III Younan (C), one of Lebanon's Christian leaders during a meeting at the Altar of Confession in Saint Peter Basilica in the Vatican on July 1, 2021. (Photo by - / VATICAN MEDIA / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / VATICAN MEDIA" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Pope Francis and Ignatius Youssef III Yonan in Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

Pope Francis passes the tomb of St Peter during a prayer meeting with Lebanon's Christian leaders to discuss the country's crisis.

Pope Francis holds a prayer meeting with Aram I, Catholicos of Cilicia of the Armenians, Cardinal Bechara Boutros, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Ignatius Youssef III, Syriac Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, Michel Kassarji, Bishop of Beirut of Chaldeans and other Christian leaders of Lebanon to discuss the country's crisis.

Pope Francis at a prayer meeting with Lebanon's Christian leaders at the Vatican.

Lebanon's Christian leaders at the Vatican in Rome to discuss their home country's crisis with the pope.

A view of Lebanon's Christian delegation to the Vatican for talks with Pope Francis.

Pope Francis during the meeting at the Vatican with Lebanon's Christian leaders.

The pope and Lebanon's Christian leaders at the Vatican.

Pope Francis and delegates from Lebanon's Christian sects in St Peter's Basilica, Rome.

A lofty view of the delegates to Lebanon crisis talks in St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.

Pope Francis on Thursday urged the leaders of Lebanon, which is mired in a financial depression and facing its worst social crisis in 30 years, to put aside partisan interests and work for peace and stability.

Francis made the appeal at the end of a day-long summit with Lebanese Christian leaders in the Vatican to discuss how religions can help the country get back on its feet.

He also repeated his wish to visit Lebanon, which is still reeling from a huge chemical explosion at the Beirut port last year that killed 200 people and caused billions of dollars worth of damage.

“I would reiterate how essential it is that those in power choose finally and decisively to work for true peace and not for their own interests,” Pope Francis said.

“Let there be an end to the few profiting from the sufferings of many! No more letting half-truths continue to frustrate people’s aspirations,” he said during a closing prayer service in St. Peter's Basilica, much of it conducted in Arabic.

Lebanon is battling a deep financial crisis, which the World Bank has called one of the worst depressions of modern history. It has pushed more than half the population into poverty and the currency has lost more than 90 per cent of its value in about two years.

The pope said Lebanese were “disillusioned and weary...in need of certainty, hope and peace”

Prime minister-designate Saad Hariri, a Muslim, has been at loggerheads for months with President Michel Aoun, a Maronite Christian, over cabinet positions.

In his closing address, Francis also said Lebanon and the Middle East should not be used “for outside interests and profits".

Iranian influence has been on the rise in Lebanon over the past years through Hezbollah, the armed Shiite group whose political power has grown.

Papal visits to the Middle East — in pictures

Pope Benedict XVI visits Bkerke, Lebanon in September 2012. AFP

Pope Benedict XVI meets Muslim clerics while visiting Michel Suleiman, Lebanon's president at the time, at the Baabda presidential palace in September 2012. AFP

Lebanese Catholics cheer as Pope Benedict XVI arrives at the Maronite Christian heartland of Bkerke in 2012. AFP

A large crowd attends a Mass held by Pope Benedict XVI in the Lebanese capital Beirut in September 2012. AFP

Pope Benedict XVI waves to the crowd as he arrives to lead an open-air Mass at Beirut's waterfront on the final day of his visit to Lebanon in 2012. AFP

Wafaa, wife of Michel Suleiman, Lebanon's president at the time, receives communion from Pope Benedict XVI during the Mass in Beirut. AFP

Michel Suleiman, Lebanon's president at the time, meets Pope Benedict XVI before he departs Beirut. AFP

Pope Benedict XVI holds an open-air Mass in Beirut on the final day of his 2012 visit to Lebanon. AFP

Jordan's King Abdullah II and his wife Queen Rania give Pope Francis a tour of the Royal Palace in Amman in 2014. AFP

King Abdullah II of Jordan and Pope Francis visit Bethany, a site on the eastern bank of the River Jordan where some Christians believe Jesus was baptised. AFP

Pope Francis visits Bethany in 2014. Some Christians believe it was the site where Jesus was baptised. AFP

King Abdullah II of Jordan, Queen Rania, Crown Prince Hussein, the king's religious affairs adviser, Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, and Pope Francis visit Bethany in 2014. AFP

King Abdullah II of Jordan, Queen Rania, Crown Prince Hussein, religious affairs adviser Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad and Pope Francis at the site on the eastern bank of the River Jordan where some Christians believe Jesus was baptised. AFP

Pope Francis arrives to celebrate a Mass at the Amman Stadium in 2014. AFP

Pope Francis greets the crowd at the Amman Stadium, where he held a Mass in 2014. AFP

Pope Francis waves to the crowd as he leaves the stadium after holding a Mass during his 2014 trip to Jordan. AFP

Pope Francis kisses a baby before holding a Mass in Amman in 2014. AFP

Pope Francis hugs a boy before holding a Mass at the Amman stadium during a visit to Jordan in 2014. AFP

Pope Francis has said he hopes to visit Lebanon once a government is formed.

President Michel Aoun, a Maronite Christian, followed the opening prayer meeting through a closed-circuit TV, his office said. He said in a tweet that the whole world was participating with the pope in prayer for Lebanon.

“Our prayers together is that, as Christians and Muslims, we strengthen the values of truth and justice, balance and mutual respect that reinforces our national unity so that we restore to our nation its unique message of coexistence in the region and the world,” he tweeted.