Pope Leo XIV arrives to participate in a Divine Liturgy at Patriarchal Church of Saint George, in Istanbul on Nov. 30, 2025.
Ozan Kose | Afp | Getty Photos
Pope Leo travels to Lebanon on Sunday, the place he’s anticipated to attraction for peace in a rustic that could be a continued goal of Israeli air strikes, on the second and remaining leg of his first abroad journey as chief of the Catholic Church.
The primary U.S. pope will arrive from Turkey, the place he has been visiting for 4 days and warned that humanity’s future was in danger due to the world’s uncommon variety of bloody conflicts and condemned violence within the identify of faith.
Leo is because of land at Beirut’s Hariri Worldwide Airport at 3:45 p.m. (1345 GMT), forward of conferences with the president and prime minister and an handle to nationwide leaders, the pope’s second to a overseas authorities.
Lebanon, which has the most important share of Christians within the Center East, has been rocked by the spillover of the Gaza battle, as Israel and the Lebanese Shi’ite Muslim militant group Hezbollah went to struggle, culminating in a devastating Israeli offensive.
Leaders in Lebanon, which hosts 1 million Syrian and Palestinian refugees and can be struggling to get well from years of financial disaster, are frightened Israel will dramatically escalate its strikes in coming months.
Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem mentioned on Friday that he hoped Leo’s go to would assist deliver an finish to Israeli assaults.
Lebanon’s numerous communities have additionally welcomed the papal journey, with main Druze cleric Sheikh Sami Abi al-Muna saying Lebanon “wants the glimmer of hope represented by this go to”.
Pope visiting 5 Lebanese cities and cities
Leo, a relative unknown on the world stage earlier than turning into pope in Could, is being carefully watched as he makes his first speeches abroad and interacts for the primary time with individuals outdoors primarily Catholic Italy.
On Saturday, Leo visited Istanbul’s famed Blue Mosque, in his first go to as pope to a Muslim place of worship. He eliminated his footwear in an indication of respect however didn’t pray on the mosque as deliberate, which appeared to shock Vatican officers.
The pope, 70 and in good well being, has a crowded itinerary in Lebanon, visiting 5 cities and cities from Sunday to Tuesday, when he returns to Rome. Leo is not going to journey to the south, the goal of Israeli strikes.
His schedule features a prayer on the web site of a 2020 chemical explosion on the Beirut port that killed 200 individuals and prompted billions of {dollars}’ value of harm.
He may even lead an out of doors Mass on the Beirut waterfront and go to a psychiatric hospital, one of many few psychological well being amenities in Lebanon, the place carers and residents are eagerly anticipating his arrival.