Pope Leo XIV praised Lebanon’s diversity while speaking to Sunni Muslim, Shia and Druze leaders during an inter-religious gathering at Beirut’s central Martyrs’ Square on day two of his visit to the country.
He called the Mediterranean state a “remarkable place where minarets and church bell towers stand side by side, yet both reach skyward”, with the land bearing “witness to the enduring truth that Christians, Muslims, Druze and countless others can live together and build a country united by respect and dialogue”.
Just over a year ago, the same square was populated by displaced people who had fled bombing in Beirut’s southern suburbs and southern Lebanon.
“The people of Lebanon ... stand as a powerful reminder that fear, distrust and prejudice do not have the final word and that unity, reconciliation and peace are possible,” said the 70-year-old American pontiff, who is on the second leg of his first overseas tour, following three days in Turkey.
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This section of the visit has the official motto “blessed are the peacemakers”.
[ Sally Hayden in Beirut: Lebanon welcomes Pope LeoOpens in new window ]
It comes at a tense moment for the country. A ceasefire between Hizbullah and Israel is more than one year old, but Israel continues to launch regular attacks, saying it is trying to stop Hizbullah from rebuilding.
These attacks have killed more than 330 people since the ceasefire, according to Lebanon’s ministry of health, including at least 127 civilians, the UN says.
Lebanon’s government is also under pressure to disarm Hizbullah, with Israeli officials threatening to intensify their assault if it is not done soon.
Amid all of this, enthusiasm towards the pope’s visit in Lebanon remained high. People lined the streets, cheering or filming on their phones as he was being driven along, while Vatican flags were for sale across the city.
In the Christian neighbourhood of Ain el Remmaneh in Beirut, where a 1975 bus attack triggered Lebanon’s 15-year civil war, a man delivered water to households on Monday morning from a truck with Pope Leo’s image emblazoned on the back.
Some businesses announced reduced opening hours due to expected disruptions and road closures.
On Monday the pope also visited Harissa, a Catholic shrine perched on a mountaintop and the tomb of Catholic saint St Charbel.
Sarah Boutros, a 21-year-old clinical psychology master’s student, who is the coordinator of Lebanon’s Latin Youth Pastoral community, was involved in registering hundreds of young people for another of the Monday meetings with the pontiff.
“In our generation, a lot of young people have a hard time finding themselves in the [church] ... [However] I cannot tell you how much faith these young people have and yearn for,” she said.
Seeing the pope with her countryfolk “will engrave in my heart a deep flame of family love”.
Boutros said she did not think any meaning should be attributed to why the pontiff was visiting Lebanon.
“His visit is a blessing in itself. A blessing for our people, our children. A blessing for the history of our humanity and faith in Christianity.”
Addressing a youth gathering later on Monday, Pope Leo XIV said: “Dear young people, perhaps you regret inheriting a world torn apart by wars and disfigured by social injustice. Yet there is hope, and there is hope within you...
“You have a gift that many times we adults seem to have lost ... You are the present, and the future is already taking shape in your hands. You have the enthusiasm to change the course of history.”
On Tuesday Pope Leo XIV will perform a mass at the waterfront in Beirut and say a prayer on the site of the Beirut port explosion, which killed more than 200 people and left hundreds of thousands initially homeless. He will then return to Rome.
