Pope Leo will arrive in Lebanon on Sunday, where he is expected to appeal for peace in a country still reeling from Israeli air strikes, marking the second and final leg of his first overseas journey as leader of the Catholic Church.
The first US-born pope travels from Turkey, where he spent four days warning that humanityโs future was at risk amid an unusual number of bloody conflicts and condemning violence carried out in the name of religion. He is scheduled to land at Beirutโs Hariri International Airport at 3:45 p.m. (1345 GMT) before meeting Lebanonโs president and prime minister and delivering an address to national leaders.
Lebanon, home to the largest Christian population in the Middle East, has been shaken by the spillover of the Gaza conflict as Israel and Hezbollah engaged in war, culminating in a devastating Israeli offensive. Leaders in Beirut, already grappling with the presence of one million Syrian and Palestinian refugees and years of economic crisis, fear Israel may escalate its strikes in the coming months. Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said Friday he hoped the popeโs visit would help bring an end to the attacks.
Communities across Lebanon have welcomed the papal trip. Druze cleric Sheikh Sami Abi al-Muna described it as a โglimmer of hopeโ for the country.
Leo, who became pope in May and remains relatively unknown on the global stage, is being closely watched as he delivers his first speeches abroad. On Saturday, he visited Istanbulโs Blue Mosque, his first time in a Muslim place of worship as pope. He removed his shoes in respect but did not pray as planned, surprising Vatican officials.
The 70-year-old pontiff has a packed itinerary in Lebanon, visiting five cities and towns from Sunday to Tuesday before returning to Rome. He will not travel to the south, which has been the target of Israeli strikes. His schedule includes a prayer at the site of the 2020 Beirut port explosion that killed 200 people, an outdoor Mass on the Beirut waterfront, and a visit to a psychiatric hospital, one of the few mental health facilities in the country.
