Pope Leo XIV offered a silent prayer at the site of the 2020 Beirut port explosion as he wrapped up his first foreign trip to Türkiye and Lebanon on Tuesday.
He also met with relatives of some of the 218 victims of the August 4, 2020 explosion. An explosion rocked Beirut It caused billions of dollars in damage after hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate exploded in a warehouse.
No official was convicted in a judicial investigation that was repeatedly obstructed, angering Lebanese for whom the explosion was just the latest crisis after decades of corruption and financial crimes. When he arrived in Lebanon on Sunday, Liu urged the country’s political leaders to seek the truth as a means of peace and reconciliation in the country.
Liu sought to deliver a message of peace to Lebanon as it faces years of economic and political crises.
The American Pope opened his last day with a visit to the De La Croix Hospital, which specializes in caring for people with psychological problems, and concluded with a Mass along the Beirut waterfront before returning to Rome.
On Monday, he chaired a gathering of Christian and Muslim spiritual leaders in Lebanon, celebrating interfaith coexistence in the country as a powerful message of peace in the conflict-ridden region.
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Pope Leo XIV called for Lebanon to be a “house of justice and brotherhood” and a “prophetic sign of peace” in the region.
Leo made his appeal during Mass along the Beirut waterfront on the final day of his visit.
In his sermon, Leo acknowledged the many crises that have distorted Lebanon, citing the 2020 Beirut port explosion, economic crises, and “acts of violence and conflicts that have reawakened old fears.”
He said it was normal to feel “paralyzed by helplessness in the face of evil and oppressed by many difficult situations.”
But the Pope urged the Lebanese people not to give up and find ways to remain optimistic and grateful. But he insisted that justice was part of the equation.
He said: “Let us remove the shield of our ethnic and political divisions, open our religious sects to mutual encounter, and awaken in our hearts the dream of a united Lebanon.” “Lebanon is peaceful and just, where everyone recognizes each other as brothers and sisters.”
He said: “Oh Lebanon, stop.” “Be the home of justice and brotherhood! Be a prophetic sign of peace for the entire East!”
Tens of thousands of worshipers crowded into an open area on Beirut’s waterfront where Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to deliver a public mass before returning to Rome.
The crowd included Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and other government leaders, as well as people from all walks of life.
Gabriel Raji, who was among the attendees, said, “I believe that the Pope’s visit will give the Lebanese people hope, hope that there will be peace, because we have been waiting for peace for 50 years.”
Lebanon fought a brutal 15-year civil war that began 50 years ago in 1975. Since then, it has faced numerous other conflicts including wars between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. The last nominally ended with a US-brokered ceasefire in November 2024. Since then, Israel has continued to launch almost daily air strikes that it says are aimed at preventing Hezbollah from rebuilding.
Today, Tuesday, the National News Agency in Lebanon reported more Israeli raids on the southern village of Aitaroun.
Pope Leo XIV I prayed at the site of the deadly 2020 Beirut port explosion that became an icon Lebanon’s dysfunction, impunity and scars.
Relatives of some of the 218 people killed in the explosion held up photos of their loved ones when Liu arrived. They stood silently next to the shell of the last standing grain silo, destroyed by the explosion and the piles of burning cars engulfed in flames in its wake.
Leo stood in silent prayer among the wreckage.
The August 4, 2020 explosion tore through Beirut, causing billions of dollars in damage after hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate exploded in a warehouse.
Five years later, these families exist Still seeking justice. No official was convicted in a judicial investigation that was repeatedly obstructed, angering Lebanese for whom the explosion was just new evidence of impunity after decades of corruption and financial crimes.
Pope Leo XIV encouraged the Lebanese people to remember the most vulnerable groups among them.
Liu made an emotional visit on Tuesday to Hospital De La Croix, which primarily cares for people with psychological problems.
The head of the group that runs the hospital, Mother Mary Makhlouf, seemed emotional when she received the Pope. She told him that the hospital where she worked cared for “forgotten souls burdened by loneliness.”
In his remarks to patients and staff, Liu said the facility serves as a reminder to all humanity.
“We cannot forget those who are most vulnerable,” he said. “We cannot imagine a society that is progressing at full speed and clings to false myths of well-being, while at the same time ignoring the many instances of poverty and vulnerability.”
Leo is on the last day of his visit to Lebanon, his first foreign trip since assuming the position of Pope.
Pope Leo
The road leading there was lined with thousands of women, men and children, waving the flags of Lebanon and the Vatican. The Pope was then received upon his arrival by officials at the hospital, where about 175 nuns work.
The hospital visit is the Pope’s first activity on Tuesday, and it is his third and last day in Lebanon.
The hospital has a capacity of 1,200 patients, and currently houses about 700 patients, most of whom are treated for mental health conditions, epilepsy, and some for drug addiction.
The hall inside was crowded with hundreds of patients and dozens of nuns
Jihan Khariati, a nun who works at De La Croix Hospital, said: “There was a rainbow over the Monastery of the Cross today. This is a sign of grace and blessing. We will not say more than the word of God.” “Nature’s word today was the biggest good sign.”
Before his large public Mass on the Lebanese capital’s waterfront on Tuesday, Pope Leo XIV will hold a silent prayer near the site of the deadly Beirut port explosion with some of the families of the 218 victims.
The explosion on August 4, 2020 was fueled by hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate stored in the port and flattened several neighborhoods.
Leo’s late predecessor, Pope Francis, publicly defended the families.
Mireille Khoury, who lost her 15-year-old son Elias, is one of the family members who will participate in the prayer.
“I wouldn’t say this anger will completely disappear,” Khoury told The Associated Press before Liu’s visit. “But I think this will kind of relieve the anger in my heart so that justice can be served.”
The ongoing investigation involving a long list of politicians, judicial and security officials continues to face obstacles as the families press for international support, including from the Vatican.
Khoury said that Lebanon will never heal from its wounds without justice, and the investigation into the port explosion could set a precedent.
She said: “Justice is the foundation of building any country.” “Our children were killed in their homes. They were killed because someone kept (ammonium) nitrate in the city’s main port near a residential area.”
Among those waiting to greet Pope Leo at Hospital de la Croix are crowds of children dressed as Swiss Guards wearing ceremonial gold, red and blue uniforms.
Sister Teresa Azar said that the seamstresses worked for three months to make the children’s clothes.
The crowd also includes cardinals dressed in red and a boy dressed as the Pope in white.
Pope Leo XIV will offer a silent prayer at the site of the 2020 Beirut port explosion.
Liu is also expected to meet relatives of some of the 218 victims of the explosion, which tore through Beirut and caused billions of dollars in damage after hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate exploded in a warehouse.
Five years later, no official has been convicted in a judicial investigation that has been repeatedly obstructed, angering Lebanese for whom the explosion was just the latest crisis after decades of corruption and financial crimes.