Pope Leo XIV leads interfaith peace meeting during historic Lebanon visit

Pope Leo

Leo received a raucous, howling welcome from crowds and a heartfelt greeting from spiritual leaders on his first full day in Lebanon, where billboards with his image appeared on highways around the capital. Thousands of ordinary Lebanese braved persistent rain in the morning to chart the convoy’s route; some threw flower petals and rice at his car as a welcome gesture.

History’s first American pope is embarking on his first papal journey, a journey that has taken him to the heart of Christianity: First to Türkiye to commemorate the founding vocation of the Christian faith, and now to Lebanon to foster an ancient Christian community in a country unique in the Arab world for its religious tolerance.

The highlight of the day was the interfaith meeting in Beirut’s Martyrs’ Square, where the country’s Christian patriarchs and Sunni, Shiite and Druze spiritual leaders gathered under a tent. After listening to hymns and readings from the Bible and the Quran, Leo praised Lebanon’s tradition of religious tolerance as a beacon for the “divine gift of peace” in the region.

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“In an age when living together seems like a distant dream, as the Lebanese people embrace different religions, it is a powerful reminder that fear, distrust and prejudice do not have the final say, and that unity, compromise and peace are possible.” he said.

Leo’s words underlined the vital importance of Lebanon and its Christian community to the Catholic Church; This place was not just a country, as St. John Paul II famously said, but a message of freedom to the rest of the world. At the end of the event, spiritual leaders planted olive saplings as a symbol of peace.

Although Lebanon is now often cited as a model of religious coexistence, it was not always so. The civil war in the country, which lasted from 1975 to 1990, was largely fought on sectarian lines.

Visit at a tense time

Leo’s visit comes at a new weak period for the small Mediterranean country after years of conflict, economic crises and political deadlock, punctuated by the 2020 Beirut port explosion. Leo’s visit was welcomed by the Lebanese as a sign of hope at a time when conflict in Gaza and political tensions in Lebanon are worsening.

“After all the wars, crises and despair we have experienced, we, as Lebanese, need this visit,” said Father Youssef Nasr, general secretary of Catholic Schools in Lebanon. “The Pope’s visit gives new impetus to the Lebanese to stand up and hold on to their country.”

More recently, Lebanon has been deeply divided over calls for Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group and political party, to disarm following a war with Israel last year that deeply scarred the country. Despite the ceasefire, Israel carries out almost daily air strikes targeting Hezbollah members.

Abdul-Latif Derian, Grand Sunni Muslim Grand Mufti of Lebanon, welcomed Leo to the interfaith event and recalled the good relations established by his predecessor, Pope Francis. He cited a 2019 joint declaration on human fraternity signed by Francis and Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, grand imam of Al Azhar, the center of Sunni learning in Cairo.

“Lebanon is the country of this message,” Derian said.

Ali al-Khatib, a senior Lebanese Shiite Muslim cleric and vice chairman of the Supreme Islamic Shiite Council, called on Leo to help Lebanon end Israeli attacks at a time when concerns are growing about broader Israeli attacks in the Mediterranean country.

“We gave Lebanon into your hands so that maybe the world could help us,” Al-Khatib said.

POPE XIV LEO STARTED VISIT TO LEBANON AMONG THE ECONOMIC CRISIS AND INCREASING SECURITY CONCERNS

Prayer for a saint revered by Christians and Muslims

Leo opened his day by praying at the tomb of St. Charbel Makhlouf, a Lebanese saint revered by many Christians and Muslims.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, both Christian and Muslim, visit St. Peter’s Church on the hill overlooking the sea in Annaya, about 40 km from Beirut. He visits the tomb in the Maroun monastery.

Bells rang as Leo’s covered popemobile meandered through the rain towards the monastery, where Leo prayed silently in the dark tomb and offered a lamp as a gift of light to the community there.

Leo operated in Lebanon from a closed papal vehicle, unlike Francis, who has eschewed bulletproof papal vehicles throughout his 12-year papacy. Lebanese troops were deployed on both sides of the roads along the convoy route, but his warm welcome underlined the joy his visit brought.

Pope Leo XIV prays next to the tomb of Saint Charbel Makhlouf at the Monastery of Saint Maroun in Annaya, Lebanon, on December 1, 2025. (Domenico Stinellis, Pool/AP Photo)

Many Lebanese posted welcome footage alongside the widely shared hot mic video of Queen Rania of Jordan during her visit to the Vatican in October and asked Leo if it was safe to go to Lebanon. Leo’s reply, “Yes, we are going,” cheered the Lebanese who were upset by the claim that Lebanon was unsafe for the pope’s visit.

Leo ended the day with a spirited rally of Lebanese youth in Bkerki, the seat of the Maronite Church, where he tried to encourage them to persevere and not leave the country as many others have done.

“This is an unforgettable moment,” said Maronite Catholic Nawal Ghossein, who welcomed the pope with a group from his church. “We are so proud to be Christians. We are so proud!”

Pope Leo XIV attends a meeting at Martyrs’ Square in Beirut, Lebanon, on December 1, 2025. (Mohammad Zaatari/AP Photo)

Call for Christians to stay

Today, Christians make up about a third of Lebanon’s population of 5 million, giving the small country on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean the largest percentage of Christians in the Middle East.

The power-sharing agreement, in force since independence from France, requires the president to be a Maronite Christian, making Lebanon the only Arab country with a Christian head of state

The Vatican sees the Christian presence as a bulwark for the church in the region.

Lebanese Christians continue to exist in their ancestral homeland even after the exodus following the country’s civil war. The region also saw large numbers of Christians flee Iraq and Syria following the rise of the Islamic State Group, which was defeated in 2019 after losing its last stronghold in Syria.

St. “We’ll stay here,” said May Noon, a pilgrim waiting for Leo outside Charbel Monastery. “No one can uproot us from this country. We must live as brothers because the church has no enemies.”

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Bishop Antoine-Charbel Tarabay accompanied a group of 60 people from the Lebanese diaspora in Australia not only to welcome Leo and join him in his prayer for peace, but also to strengthen the Christian presence in the country.

“Even though we live abroad, we think we should support young people and families to stay here,” he said. “We don’t like to see more and more people, especially Christians, leaving Lebanon.”