Pope Leo has urged Lebanon’s political leaders to make peace their top priority in a forceful appeal as he visits the country, which has been the target of Israeli air strikes, on the second leg of his first foreign trip as a Catholic leader.
Leo, the first American Pope, arrived in Beirut on Sunday from a four-day visit to Turkey, where he warned that the future of humanity is at risk due to the unusual number of bloody conflicts in the world, and condemned violence in the name of religion.
Addressing a presidential palace chamber filled with politicians and religious leaders from Lebanon’s many sects, he began his speech by repeating the words of Jesus: “Blessed are the peacemakers.”
Using the word peace more than 20 times during his speech, Leo said Lebanon must continue peace efforts despite facing a “highly complex, conflictual and uncertain” regional situation in a speech attended by the President, Joseph Aoun, the Prime Minister, Nawaf Salaam, and other leaders.
Aoun said: “There is a lot of suffering in our country and our region and many people are suffering.” He said Lebanon is a country where “Christians and Muslims live separately but equally”.
Hours before Leo’s arrival, crowds gathered in the streets from the airport to the presidential palace, waving Lebanese and Vatican flags.
Lebanon, which has the largest population of Christians in the Middle East, has been rocked by the outbreak of the war in Gaza, as Israel and the Lebanese Shia Muslim militant group Hezbollah went to war, culminating in a devastating Israeli attack.
Randa Sayoun, a Lebanese woman living in Qatar who was home for the pope’s visit, said: “We want him to instill peace in the hearts of politicians so that we can live a comfortable life in Lebanon.”
Leo said that building peace requires perseverance, adding that “commitment to peace and love is not afraid to face apparent defeat”.
Leaders in Lebanon, which hosts 1 million Syrian and Palestinian refugees and is struggling to recover from years of economic crisis, are worried that Israel will dramatically increase its attacks in the coming months.
Israel says its sustained strikes since last year’s ceasefire agreement are meant to prevent Hezbollah from re-establishing military capabilities and posing a renewed threat to communities in northern Israel.
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassim said Friday he hoped Leo’s visit would help end Israeli attacks. Mohammed Raad, Hezbollah’s most senior parliamentarian, attended Leo’s speech.
Leo, a relative unknown on the world stage before becoming Pope in May, is being closely watched as he delivers his first speech abroad and interacts with people outside predominantly Catholic Italy for the first time.
Leo, 70 and in good health, has a packed itinerary in Lebanon, visiting five cities and towns from Sunday to Tuesday, when he returns to Rome. Leo will not travel to the south, the target of Israeli attacks, and did not mention Israel in his speech.
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