Pope Leo XIV leads interfaith peace meeting during historic Lebanon visit

Pope Leo XIV On Monday, he celebrated Lebanon’s tradition of interfaith coexistence as a beacon of hope for a conflict-torn region, as he asked for the “divine gift of peace” alongside the country’s Christian and Muslim religious leaders.

Leo received a raucous welcome from the crowds and a heartfelt welcome from their spiritual leaders on his first full day in Lebanon, as billboards bearing his image dotted highways throughout the capital. Thousands of ordinary Lebanese braved the persistent morning rain and lined the route of his convoy, some throwing flower petals and rice at his car in a gesture of welcome.

The first American pope in history is making his first papal trip, and this trip has taken him to the heart of Christianity: first to Turkey to commemorate the founding of the Christian faith, and now to Lebanon to encourage the ancient Christian community in a country that is unique in the Arab world for its religious tolerance.

The most prominent event of his 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 Holy Qur’an, Leo praised Lebanon’s tradition of religious tolerance as a beacon of “divine’s gift of peace” in the region.

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He said: “In an era when coexistence may seem a distant dream, the people of Lebanon, despite professing different religions, stand as a powerful reminder that fear, mistrust and prejudice do not have the final say, and that unity, reconciliation and peace are possible.”

Liu’s statements stressed the vital importance of Lebanon and its Christian community to the world Catholic ChurchIt is a place that Saint John Paul II said was more than just a country, but rather a message of freedom to the rest of the world. At the end of the ceremony, the spiritual leaders planted an olive seedling as a symbol of peace.

While Lebanon is often cited as a model of religious coexistence, it was not always this way. The country’s civil war took place from 1975 to 1990 largely along sectarian lines.

Pope Leo XIV is seen waving from the pontiff on December 1, 2025, in Annaya, Lebanon. (Hassan Ammar/AP Photo)

Visit at a tense time

Liu’s visit comes at an extremely fragile time for the small Mediterranean country after years of conflict, economic crises and political stalemate, punctuated by the 2020 Beirut port explosion. At a time of conflict in Gaza and heightened political tensions in Lebanon, the Lebanese welcomed Liu’s visit as a sign of hope.

Father Youssef Nasr, Secretary General of Catholic Schools in Lebanon, said: “We as Lebanese need this visit after all the wars, crises and despair we have lived through.” He added, “The Pope’s visit gives a new impetus to the Lebanese to rise up and cling to their homeland.”

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

Lebanon’s Sunni Grand Mufti, Abdel Latif Derian, welcomed Assad to the interfaith event and pointed to the good relations established by his predecessor, Pope Francis. He cited the 2019 Joint Statement on Human Fraternity signed by Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, the seat of Sunni Islam in Cairo, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb.

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

Prominent Lebanese Shiite cleric Ali al-Khatib, vice president of the Supreme Shiite Islamic Council, urged Liu to help Lebanon end Israeli attacks amid growing fears in the Mediterranean country of broader Israeli strikes.

Al-Khatib said: “We place Lebanon in your hands, so that the world may help us.”

Pope Leo XIV begins a visit to Lebanon amid an economic crisis and growing security concerns

Prayers for a saint revered by Christians and Muslims

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

Every year, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, both Christian and Muslim, visit the tomb at Saint Marun Monastery atop the hill overlooking the sea in Annaya, about 25 miles from Beirut.

The bells rang as Liu’s covered car made its way through the rain to the monastery where Liu prayed quietly in the dark tomb and offered a lamp as a gift of light to the community there.

Leo was moving Through Lebanon In a closed papal car, in contrast to Francis, who avoided bulletproof papal cars throughout his 12-year papacy. Lebanese forces were deployed on both sides of the roads along his convoy routes, but his warm welcome underscored the joy his visit brought.

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

Many Lebanese posted snaps of the welcome alongside a widely shared heated video of Queen Rania of Jordan, during a visit to the Vatican in October, in which they asked Leo if it was safe to go to Lebanon. Leo’s response, “Okay, we’re going,” delighted Lebanese who were offended by the suggestion that Lebanon was not safe for a pope to visit.

Leo concluded the day with a jubilant gathering of Lebanese youth in Bkerke, seat of the Maronite Church, where he sought to encourage them to persevere and not leave the country as many others did.

Nawal Ghossein, a Maronite Catholic, who received the Pope with a group from her church, said, “It is an unforgettable moment.” “We are very proud to be Christians. Very proud!”

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

A call to Christians to stay

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

The power-sharing agreement in place since independence from France stipulates that the president must 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 have persisted in their ancestral homeland even after the mass exodus following the country’s civil war. The region also witnessed the flight of Christians from Iraq and Syria in large numbers after the rise of the Islamic State, which was defeated in 2019 after losing its last stronghold in Syria.

“We will stay here,” said Mai Noun, a pilgrim waiting for Leo outside Saint Charbel Monastery. “No one can uproot us from this country. We must live in it as brothers because the Church has no enemy.”

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

“Even though we live abroad, we feel we need to support young people and families to stay here,” he said. “We do not like to see more and more people leaving Lebanon, especially Christians.”