Pope Leo ends first foreign trip with prayer at Beirut blast site

Pope Leo XIV told a crowd in Lebanon on Dec. 2 that the Middle East needed new approaches to rejecting violence and overcoming divisions, while urging Christians in the region to "have courage.”

"The Middle East needs new approaches in order to reject the mindset of revenge and violence, to overcome political, social and religious divisions and to open new chapters in the name of reconciliation and peace," he said at the conclusion of a mass in Beirut attended by some 150,000 people.

"Christians of the Levant, citizens of these lands in every respect, I repeat, have courage. The whole Church looks to you with affection and admiration."

Before the service, the pope prayed at the site of a catastrophic port explosion on Aug. 4, 2020 which killed more than 220 people, injured over 6,500 and devastated swathes of the capital.

At a monument to those killed, with shipping containers, piles of rubble and the facility's devastated grain silos visible nearby, the pope lit a lamp after praying silently.

Around 150,000 people gathered at Beirut's waterfront for mass with Pope Leo on Dec. 2 morning.

The pontiff arrived from Türkiye on Nov. 30 on his inaugural visit abroad as pope and brought a message of hope, particularly to young people in Lebanon whose faith in their country has dwindled.

He has received a jubilant welcome in a nation beset by a years-long economic collapse and which is still reeling from a war last year between Israel and militant group Hezbollah, with many fearing renewed hostilities.

Arriving for the service on the last day of his trip, the pope wound his way through the crowd in his popemobile as people offered roses, with senior officials including President Joseph Aoun also in attendance.

Some participants travelled from abroad including from neighboring Syria, or from further afield like the United States, while migrant workers from countries such as the Philippines and Sri Lanka were also among the excited crowd.