Pope Leo XIV continues visit to Lebanon on Monday and will meet leaders on second day, a day after official and popular reception from Beirut International Airport to the Presidential Palace in Baabda.
“Our prayer … gives us the strength to continue to hope and work, even when surrounded by the sound of weapons,” the Pope said on Monday at Harissa, a Catholic shrine perched on a mountaintop overlooking the Mediterranean just north of Beirut.
The pontiff has a crowded itinerary on Monday. He visited the tomb of St. Charbel, a Catholic saint revered across the region, in Annaya before heading to the shrine, known for an 8.5 metre tall (28 ft) statue of the Virgin Mary looking over Beirut.
Pope Leo visits the tomb of St Charbel in Annaya, Lebanon pic.twitter.com/Tk12OP1cdI
— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) December 1, 2025
The pope, on what he has described as a mission of peace, has urged Lebanon’s leaders to persevere with peace efforts in the aftermath of last year’s devastating Israeli war on Lebanon, and continued Israeli attacks following the November 2024 ceasefire.
The first US pope is visiting Lebanon until Tuesday on the second leg of his first overseas trip, which started in Turkey.
Pope Leo will host a meeting with young people, where he is expected to urge them to work for peace in a country still being hit by near-daily Israeli bombardment.
His schedule for Tuesday includes a prayer at the site of the huge 2020 explosion at the Beirut port that killed more than 200 people and caused damage worth billions of dollars.
He will also lead an outdoor Mass on the Beirut waterfront and visit a psychiatric hospital, one of the few mental health facilities in Lebanon.
Source: Agencies and AL-Manar English Website