Why Pope Leo XIV’s Lebanon visit matters amid Israeli bombardment

BEIRUT — Pope Benedict XIV When Leo visits the Middle East this week, he comes to a conflict-torn region struggling to find peace as the specter of war looms large once again.

The Chicago-born pope will travel to Türkiye on Thursday, in his first international trip since taking over the papacy in May, where he will celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. Nicene Creed – Fundamental statement of Christian faith and unity – written in 325 AD.

But perhaps the real test of Leo’s international debut lies in Lebanon. His arrival fulfills a promise to visit the country by his bold charismatic predecessor, Pope Francis, who raised the papacy’s international profile with dozens of visits abroad and a penchant for outspokenness in his comments that has endeared him especially to the faithful in the Middle East.

But it’s not just Christians, estimated to make up around 30% of Lebanon’s population, who are eagerly awaiting Leo’s arrival.

Many here hope his visit will be a sign of peace and draw attention to this small Mediterranean country struggling with a series of business-like crises: First, the economy that collapsed in 2019, taking down the banking system and currency with it; followed by the port explosion in 2020; and the war between the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah and Israel, which flared in 2023 and intensified late last year, killing thousands and turning large swaths of southern and eastern Lebanon into dust.

Despite a ceasefire last November, Israel has launched almost daily attacks on its northern neighbor, justifying its attacks as a means to prevent Hezbollah from restructuring itself, even though the United Nations reports more than 10,000 air and land violations and 127 civilian deaths in Lebanese territory in the year since the ceasefire came into force.

Israeli attacks also paralyzed reconstruction efforts; This means that most residents of Lebanon’s border towns (whether Christian, Muslim or Druze-dominated) have not been able to recapture their pre-war lives. The UN’s human rights office says about 64,000 Lebanese remain displaced.

On October 11, the Israeli army launched more than 10 air strikes on the town of Al Musaylih in southern Lebanon, causing great damage.

(Houssam Shbaro/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The pope’s security concerns have been top of people’s minds for months. In October, in what appeared to be a hot mic moment, Queen Rania of Jordan asked the pope if it was safe to go to Lebanon during a photo shoot at the Vatican. “Well, we’re leaving,” Leo replied gruffly.

Alarms were raised again over the weekend when Israel bombed the southern suburbs of Beirut, just two miles from where the pope is due to land on Sunday. The first attack near the capital in months led to the death of Hezbollah’s top military commander and coincided with a general increase in Israeli attacks and drone activity in recent weeks; According to observers, all indicators point to an all-out attack coming.

However, Lebanese officials say the trip is still ongoing.

This is “a sign of courage and resilience for the Lebanese people and Christians in the region as a whole,” according to Oumayma Farah, development director of the Lebanese Order of Malta, which helps communities of all religions and nationalities through humanitarian projects.

“The pope will come no matter what,” Farah said.

“The church teaches us not to be afraid, so he is the archetype.”

A woman in Beirut walks her dog past a billboard promoting Pope Leo’s upcoming visit to Lebanon.

(Anwar Amro / AFP/Getty Images)

As in many of the countries where Christianity first took hold, wars and economic lethargy (not to mention a relatively easier path to emigration) reduced Lebanon’s Christian population over the decades.

In the Middle East, the number of Christians dropped from 20% of the population to only 5%; Lebanon remains the Arab country with the highest proportion of Christians, with Christians making up about 30% of the population, according to estimates from various research groups. US State Department.

Farah said the Pope’s insistence on coming to Lebanon “reemphasized the importance of this country” and was a “wake-up call” for politicians. After spending three days in Türkiye, the Pope will arrive in Lebanon on Sunday and depart on Tuesday.

There are signs of intense logistical activity and preparations in Lebanon’s capital Beirut and other areas on the pope’s route: Police and security personnel have intensified their presence. A two-day holiday was declared to allow attendance at public prayer events, although congregations and schools across the country were involved in bringing the faithful to attend services near the site of the Beirut port explosion and elsewhere, which was thought to be an accident caused by negligence.

Meanwhile, road works and maintenance works, which have been almost completely eliminated in recent years due to the government’s financial difficulties, continue at full speed. The joke going around the city is that people want another papal visit so the government can finish repaving all the potholed streets of the country. A sad consequence of this is another joke that the renewed roads will only last until the pope leaves; because these roads will be destroyed in a new Israeli operation.

Pope Leo will travel to the ancient city of Iznik, Türkiye, to celebrate the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, as well as the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul.

(Arif Hüdaverdi Yaman / Anadolu / Getty Images)

Gallows humor reflects the uncertainty of the moment, with the US and Israel pushing the Lebanese army to fully disarm Hezbollah, despite the group insisting it would only be disarmed in the south of the country.

The Lebanese government, on the other hand, says that it cannot persuade Hezbollah to lay down its arms as long as Israel occupies Lebanese territory, and that doing so by force would lead to civil war.

The hope is that the Pope can help clear this blockage. But Father Tony Elias, a Maronite priest from the village of Rmeish just across the Israeli border, said the visit was still important, even though few expected the change to happen so quickly.

“The fact that the Pope visits a country that has suffered for so long is really enough to ease the pain,” Elias said.

Resolutely neutral during the war, Rmeish remains relatively unscathed, an exception in the wasteland that has become Lebanon’s border region after years of Israeli bombardment.

Elias said he wanted the pope to visit the south, but he was not disappointed, and that he and about 200 people from the village would go to Beirut and join the pontiff.

“If he can’t come to the south, we can come to him,” Elias said.