Why Pope Leo XIV’s Lebanon visit matters amid Israeli bombardment

BEIRUT — When Pope Leo XIV visits the Middle East this week, he comes to a conflict-plagued region struggling to find peace even as the specter of war haunts it again.

On my first international trip since taking over the papacy In May, the Chicago-born pope will travel Thursday to Turkey to mark the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, where Nicene Creed – the founding declaration of Christian faith and unity – was written in 325 AD.

But perhaps the real test of Leo's international debut lies in Lebanon. His arrival fulfills a promise to visit the country made by his boldly charismatic predecessor. Pope Franciswho raised the international profile of the papacy through dozens of visits abroad and a penchant for frankness in his comments, which endeared him to the faithful, especially in the Middle East.

But Christians, who are estimated to make up about 30% of Lebanon's population, are not the only ones eagerly awaiting Leo's arrival.

Many here hope his visit will be a harbinger of peace and draw attention to this tiny Mediterranean country, which has been grappling with a succession of Jove-like crises: first, the economy collapsed in 2019, collapsing the banking system and currency; then the port explosion in 2020; and the war between the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah and Israel, which broke out in 2023 and then intensified late last year, leaving thousands dead and the destruction of vast areas in southern and eastern Lebanon.

Despite a ceasefire brokered last November, Israel has carried out almost daily attacks on its northern neighbor, justifying its strikes as an attempt to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding, even as the United Nations has tallied more than 10,000 air and ground violations across Lebanon and 127 civilians killed in the year since the ceasefire took effect.

Israeli attacks have also paralyzed reconstruction efforts, meaning most residents of Lebanon's predominantly Christian, Muslim or Druze border towns have been unable to return to their pre-war lives. The UN human rights office says some 64,000 Lebanese remain internally displaced.

The Pope's security concerns have been top of people's minds for months. In October, in the heat of the moment, Queen Rania of Jordan asked the Pope during a photo op at the Vatican whether it was safe to travel to Lebanon. “Well, let’s go,” Leo answered hoarsely.

Alarms were raised again last weekend when Israel bombed the southern suburbs of Beirutjust two miles from where the Pope will land on Sunday. The attack, the first near the capital in months, killed Hezbollah's most senior military commander and coincided with a general increase in Israeli strikes and drone activity in recent weeks – all of which observers say indicate a full-scale attack is imminent.

However, according to Lebanese officials, the trip is still ongoing.

For Umaima Farah, director of development for the Lebanese Order of Malta, which helps communities of all religions and nationalities through humanitarian projects, it is “a sign of courage and resilience for the Lebanese population and Christians in the region as a whole.”

“No matter what happens, Daddy will come,” Farah said.

“The Church teaches us not to be afraid, so he is the first example.”

As in most countries where Christianity first took hold, wars and economic sluggishness—not to mention a relatively easier route to emigration—declined Lebanon's Christian population over the decades.

In the Middle East, the number of Christians has grown from 20% of the population to just 5%; According to various research groups and US State Department.

The Pope's insistence on visiting Lebanon, Farah said, “underlines the importance of this country” and is a “wake-up call” for its politicians. After spending three days in Turkey, the Pope will arrive in Lebanon on Sunday and leave on Tuesday.

In the Lebanese capital Beirut and other areas of the Pope's route, there were many signs of frantic logistical activity and preparations, with police and security officials beefing up their presence. A two-day holiday was declared to allow participation in public prayer events, even as parishes and schools across the country invited the faithful to attend Mass near the location of the Mass. Beirut port explosionwhich was recognized as an accident caused by negligence, and in other places.

Meanwhile, road work and maintenance, largely abandoned in recent years due to the government's financial problems, continues at full speed. There is a joke in the city that people want another visit from the pope, if only so that the government finishes repairing all the potholes on the country's streets. The bitter consequence is another joke that the repaired roads will only last until the Pope leaves, because they will be destroyed in the new Israeli campaign.

The gallows humor reflects the uncertainty of the moment as the United States and Israel push the Lebanese army to completely disarm Hezbollah, even as the group insists it will disarm only in the south of the country.

The Lebanese government, in turn, says it cannot persuade Hezbollah to give up its weapons while Israel continues to occupy Lebanese territory, and that doing so by force would lead to civil war.

There is hope that the pontiff can help break the impasse. But while few expect change to happen so quickly, the visit is still important, says Maronite parish priest Father Tony Elias of Rmeish, a village just across the border from Israel.

“When the Pope visits a country that has suffered pain for so long, it really is enough to ease that pain,” Elias said.

Rmeish, which maintained a resolutely neutral stance during the war, is relatively unscathed, an exception among the wasteland that has become Lebanon's border zone after years of Israeli bombing.

Elias said he would have liked the Pope to visit the south, but he was not disappointed as he and about 200 other villagers traveled to Beirut and joined the pontiff.

“If he can’t come south, we can come to him,” Elias said.