Irish peacekeepers left Camp Shamrock at 1am to join thousands of people attending a waterfront mass in Lebanese capital Beirut on Tuesday, which marked the last stop for Pope Leo XIV on his first trip abroad as head of the Catholic Church.
“We’re delighted to be here,” said company sergeant Brian Harding. He said they had “drawn names” to decide who got to attend. “I think it brings a lot of hope to Lebanon,” Harding said about the pontiff’s trip.
Apart from the six Irish peacekeepers in the crowd, chaplain Declan Shannon – the Irish padre with the 127th Infantry Battalion – was on stage with the pope, who led a mass for thousands of people.
The three-day trip to Lebanon came after Pope Leo XIV spent a few days in Turkey.
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“Blessed are the peacemakers,” was the official motto for his second stop. Billboards bearing these words and pictures of the pontiff, his hands outstretched, have appeared across Lebanon, along with flags bearing the Vatican coat of arms.
His visit comes at a fraught time, when many Lebanese are anticipating a new war, as Israeli officials threaten to intensify attacks if the Lebanese state fails to disarm Iran-backed militant group Hizbullah by the end of the year.
One meme, shared online, showed Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu looking at his watch with the text: “waiting for the pope [to leave].”
Nazha El Khoury (70), a Maronite nun with the Antonine sisters, called the pope’s visit a “gift from God”. She said it showed the Middle East is still important for the church. “Our land is a holy land.”
She said it is necessary there is recognition of how “special” it is that Muslims and Christians live peacefully together in Lebanon – where about one-third of the population is Christian – even if “international politics” has “another agenda”.
El Khoury hopes there will not be another war. “The people need peace. How to have it, I don’t know, but we hope for peace. Everyone prefers to be in peace.”
Lebanon was suffering from a catastrophic economic crisis even before the latest war. In August 2020 more than 200 people were also killed, thousands injured and billions of dollars of damage caused by the Beirut port explosion – one of the largest non-nuclear blasts in modern history. On Tuesday Pope Leo XIV prayed at the site of the blast and met families of those killed, who are still seeking justice.
During his trip, he also offered encouragement for young people choosing to stay in their home country rather than emigrating, despite the challenges, as well as those returning from abroad.
Chloe Ojeil (22) said she appreciated those words. She volunteered at the waterfront mass, which she called a “once in a lifetime experience”.
The medical lab student said most of her family and friends live abroad. “I’ve had the opportunity to travel many times, and I’ve always decided to stay and I decided to continue my university journey here ... It can be challenging, of course, but at the end of the day we decided to stay to make it a better place for the rest to come back [to].”
After the large-scale mass, Pope Leo XIV went to the airport to fly back to Rome.
“I raise my gratitude to the Lord for having shared these days with you, as I carry your sufferings and hopes in my heart,” he posted on his X account. “Let us strive ahead together. Let us hope to involve the entire Middle East in this spirit of fraternity and commitment to peace, including those who currently consider themselves enemies. May God bless Lebanon, the Middle East, and all humanity!”
