Concluding a symbolic three-day visit, the pontiff called for Lebanese unity and the pursuit of peace and justice.
Pope Leo XIV has prayed at the site of the 2020 Beirut port explosion, one of the final stops on his three-day visit to Lebanon.
The Catholic leader prayed silently and lit a candle at the memorial Tuesday morning where more than 220 people were killed and 6,500 injured. in an explosion. There are pontiffs born in the United States Called for peaceful coexistence in the Middle East during his inaugural foreign tour.
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With piles of rubble and the remains of the destroyed facility in sight, the pontiff shook hands, blessed and spoke to each of the survivors and victims’ relatives in attendance.
“We are very grateful for this visit from the Pope,” said lawyer Cecil Roukoz, whose brother died in the explosion. “We know that he cries out for justice” and we want justice for our brothers and for all the victims of this blast”.
Reporting from Beirut’s waterfront, where Leo later held mass, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khoder said many Lebanese saw his arrival at the blast site as a powerful gesture.
“The Pope speaking one-on-one with family members … is really very meaningful,” she said.
Five years after the explosion cost millions of dollars, the families of the victims and the dead are still demanding justice. Ripped from the surrounding area.
No official has been convicted in a judicial investigation that has been repeatedly obstructed, angering Lebanese for whom the explosion was the latest evidence of impunity after decades of corruption and financial crimes.
When Leo arrived in Lebanon on Sunday, he urged the country’s political leaders to pursue the truth as a means of peace and reconciliation.
‘Remove caste and political divisions’
Thousands of people later gathered on Beirut’s waterfront for the pope’s Mass, capping off a three-day tour of the country.
“We must unite our efforts so that this land can regain its glory,” he said, urging Lebanese people to “remove the armor of our ethnic and political divisions.”
He said he envisioned “a Lebanon where peace and justice reign, where everyone knows each other as brothers and sisters”.
Nearly 150,000 people attended the outdoor ceremony, the Vatican’s press service quoted Lebanese officials as saying.
That means the turnout was lower than the estimated 300,000 people who attended the waterfront Mass during Pope Benedict XVI’s last papal visit to Lebanon in 2012.
The discrepancy speaks to the mass exodus of Lebanese, including Christians, in recent years, as deep sectarian strife has fueled economic and political unrest, Khoder said.
“Since Pope Benedict XVI has been here … there has been crisis after crisis for the country: financial collapse, people losing their savings and then the port explosion,” Khoder said.
“And now the constant conflict between Hezbollah and Israel. Really, the list goes on. When you talk to people here, they say life is hard and we’re struggling, but we appreciate the pope’s presence.”
Leo’s visit to Lebanon was the second leg of his foreign tour Started in TurkeyIn which he pleaded for peace in the Middle East and warned that the world’s bloody conflicts threatened the future of humanity.