Pope Leo begins eagerly awaited Lebanon trip with emphasis on peace

Lebanese leaders greet Pope Leo as he begins three-day tour in Beirut

Pope Leo XIV arrived in Lebanon on Sunday for the the second leg of his first overseas trip in office, delivering a message of peace and persistence despite the country's range of difficulties.

He arrived in Lebanon, where about one third of the population is Christian, as the country continues to suffer from daily Israeli attacks and the fallout from last year's war between Israel and Hezbollah.

On the first day of his highly anticipated three-day visit, Pope Leo was greeted by President Joseph Aoun at Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport. A welcome ceremony also included Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Maronite Patriarch Bechara Al Rai.

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As the Pope arrived at about 3.45pm local time, church bells could be heard throughout Beirut. He left for a meeting with Mr Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda.

Pope Leo met Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda. AFP

At the palace, in a speech to Lebanon's leaders, the Pope regularly mentioned the words peace and reconciliation.

“There are personal and collective wounds that take many years, sometimes entire generations, to heal,” he said. He also praised the Lebanese as a people who do not give up and persevere.

“There are times when it is easier to flee, or simply more convenient to move elsewhere. It takes real courage and foresight to stay or return to one’s own country.”

But the Pope said Lebanon must continue to push ahead with peace efforts despite acknowledging “highly complex, conflictual and uncertain” situation regionally.

“It is a great joy for me to meet with you, and to visit this land where 'peace' is much more than just a word, for here peace is a desire and a vocation; it is a gift and a work in progress," he said.

In Lebanon's confessional system, the presidency is reserved for a Maronite Christian.

Hours before Pope Leo's arrival, crowds gathered along the roads from the airport to the presidential palace, waving Lebanese and Vatican flags.

Welcoming the Pope to Lebanon, Mr Aoun told him that “you are not visiting an ordinary country,” as listed some of the times Lebanon was mentioned in the Bible.

Children wave Vatican and Lebanese flags in Beirut to welcome Pope Leo XIV. AFP

On Monday, he will visit Lebanon's Maronite heartland. From Saint Charbel’s monastery in Annaya, Pope Leo will travel to the Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa to meet fellow bishops and priests, as well as pastoral workers.

The next day he will hold an open-air Mass for tens of thousands of worshippers at the waterfront in Beirut before a silent prayer at the capital's port, where in 2020 a massive explosion killed more than 220 people.

Travel in central Beirut and other areas the Pope is visiting is expected to almost completely shut down. Monday and Tuesday have been declared national holidays. About 1,300 journalists applied for accreditation for the visit.

Lebanon's last papal visitor was Pope Benedict XVI in 2012. Pope Leo's predecessor, Francis, had hoped to visit Lebanon, but the country's precarious security situation and his declining health prevented a visit from taking place before his death in April.

Pope Leo's visit to Lebanon comes as the country endures one of its darkest chapters. It is still reeling from last year's conflict, is plagued by daily Israeli attacks and is paralysed by a deep-seated economic crisis and institutional failure, as well as political and societal divisions. Several points in the country's south – the region where Christians believe Jesus conducted his earliest miracles – remain under Israeli occupation.

Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed group and political party, has welcomed the visit of the Pope.

Pope Leo's convoy drives past damaged buildings in the south of Beirut. AFP

Last day in Turkey

Before he left Turkey, the pontiff held prayers at Istanbul’s Armenian Apostolic Cathedral alongside Patriarch Sahak II Mashalian, in a quiet nod to continuing reconciliation efforts between Turkey and neighbouring Armenia.

The two countries have no formal diplomatic ties and their land border has been closed since the 1990s. In recent years both countries have appointed envoys as part of a continuing process to attempt to improve relations.

Hundreds of Armenians, who represent one of Turkey’s largest Christian communities, were present for the Pope’s visit at the cathedral in Istanbul’s Kumkapi district on Sunday morning.

Pope Leo XIV visits Istanbul’s Blue Mosque

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The pontiff did not made explicit reference to killings of Armenians in Turkey in the early 20th century in remarks on Sunday, but said that his visit to Turkey provided him with the opportunity to, “thank God for the courageous Christian witness of the Armenian people throughout history, often amid tragic circumstances”.

An estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed at the end of the Ottoman era, in events seen by many Western countries and historians as a genocide. Turkey denies that description and gives a lower death toll that it attributes to unrest and forced deportations.

Before leaving Turkey, the pontiff also returned to the seat of Bartholomew I of Constantinople, spiritual leader of the world’s hundreds of millions of Orthodox Christians.