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 enchantment for peace in a rustic that may be a continued goal of Israeli air strikes, on the second and closing 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 title 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 tackle 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 battle, culminating in a devastating Israeli offensive.
Leaders in Lebanon, which hosts 1 million Syrian and Palestinian refugees and can also be struggling to get better from years of financial disaster, are fearful Israel will dramatically escalate its strikes in coming months.
Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem stated on Friday that he hoped Leo’s go to would assist convey 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 changing into pope in Might, 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 sneakers 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 won’t journey to the south, the goal of Israeli strikes.
His schedule features a prayer on the website of a 2020 chemical explosion on the Beirut port that killed 200 individuals and triggered billions of {dollars}’ value of injury.
He may also lead an outside Mass on the Beirut waterfront and go to a psychiatric hospital, one of many few psychological well being services in Lebanon, the place carers and residents are eagerly anticipating his arrival.
