In a country still struggling with conflict, economic collapse, and the trauma of the 2020 port explosion, Pope Leo XIV spent his last moments on his Middle East visit by sharing with the Lebanese people an urgent message to hold on to hope and not give in to despair. 

Addressing some 150,000 people gathered along the Beirut waterfront, he urged citizens “not to be discouraged, not to give in to the logic of violence or the idolatry of money, and not to resign ourselves to the spread of evil.”

At the end of Mass, the pope made an appeal for political and social leaders of all nations engulfed in wars: “Listen to the cry of your peoples who are calling for peace! The liturgy over the Mediterranean Sea was the culmination of a visit of less than 48 hours.

Earlier in the day, Leo went to a hospital for people with mental disabilities and prayed at the site of the chemical explosion in 2020, which killed at least 218 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless. He also met the grieving families of the victims.

Preaching near the shattered port’s silent cranes and collapsed silos, Leo reminded Lebanon of the path back to stability – the path back to stability was in a renewed commitment to the common good. Remembering the country’s particular religious diversity, he called for unity and reconciliation: “Disarming our hearts is only the path.” Let us refuse to allow ethnic and political differences and divisions to prevail, let us open up our religious communities to one another, and reawaken the dream of a united Lebanon.”