Pope to end first overseas trip by praying with 100,000 Lebanese

2/12/2025 15:16

Pope Leo ends a three-day visit to Lebanon on Tuesday, wrapping up his first overseas trip as Catholic leader, during which he pleaded for peace in the Middle East and warned that humanity's future was at risk from the world's bloody conflicts.



The first U.S. pope, Leo will pray at the site of a 2020 chemical explosion at the Beirut port and lead a Catholic Mass on the city's waterfront expected to draw 100,000 people before leaving for Rome with his entourage at about 1:15 pm.



The pope, who has said he is on a mission of peace, has urged Lebanon's leaders to persevere with peace efforts after last year's devastating war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, and continued Israeli strikes.



Leo, a relative unknown on the world stage before becoming pope in May, has been closely watched as he made his first speeches overseas and interacted for the first time with people outside mainly Catholic Italy.



Meeting on Monday with leaders from Lebanon's many diverse religious sects, Leo urged them to unite to heal the country after years of conflict, political paralysis and economic crisis that have prompted waves of migration.