BEIRUT — With a rainbow adorning the early morning sky, tens of thousands converged Tuesday on Beirut’s waterfront to attend public prayers led by Pope Leo XIV — the culmination of an international debut that saw the U.S.-born pontiff repeatedly call for peace in a time of increasing war.
Addressing a crowd of an estimated 150,000 people — including much of Lebanon’s political class — Leo described himself as “a pilgrim of hope to the Middle East.” He implored “God for the gift of peace for this beloved land marked by instability, wars and suffering.”
It was a message with deep resonance here in Lebanon, a country that has seen more than its fair share of all three in recent years.
In 2019, its economy collapsed, devaluing the currency by more than 98% and all but wiping out most people’s savings.
A year later, 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate stored in the Beirut port exploded, killing hundreds and ravaging wide swaths of the Lebanese capital. The disaster, blamed on gross negligence at all levels of government, became emblematic of the endemic corruption in Lebanon but has yet to see a single official indicted.
Then came the war between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah in 2023. A ceasefire brokered by the U.S. in November 2024 was supposed to end hostilities, but more than a year later, Israel is still occupying parts of southern Lebanon and has conducted near-daily airstrikes — measures it says are vital to thwart Hezbollah’s attempts at rebuilding. (A week before Leo arrived, Israeli warplanes hit an apartment in Beirut’s suburbs, assassinating Hezbollah’s top military commander.)
Pope Leo XIV leaves the Mass held at the Beirut waterfront on Dec. 2, 2025, the last of day of his visit to Turkey and Lebanon.
(Adri Salido / Getty Images)
Despite those travails and growing fears that the conflict with Israel may flare up once more, the mood throughout Leo’s time in Lebanon was jubilant, with many believing the pontiff’s presence would be a deterrent against any attack.
Indeed, celebrations began the moment he came, with church bells across the country marking his arrival from Turkey on Sunday. Over the three days of the visit, at every stop in the pontiff’s packed schedule, neither heavy rain nor scorching sun prevented people from lining the streets, ululating and showering the papal motorcade with rose petals, rice, even pigeons.
And in a country where religion often bleeds into politics to devastating effect (as it did during the 15-year Lebanese civil war) the papal visit drew not only Christians — who make up roughly a third of the country’s population — but members of other faiths too. Even Hezbollah got in on the act, with a marching band from the group’s youth wing playing as the pope passed through Hezbollah-dominated neighborhoods of the capital.
“Of course we’re all here celebrating. This is the pope coming to Lebanon. You can’t miss that,” said George Abinader, a 20-year-old university student attending the waterfront Mass with his mother, Najat Abinader. “All sects. This is the true Lebanon.”
Like many others in attendance, Najat Abinader believed the pope would be a powerful advocate for Lebanon internationally, but she wanted his words to have domestic effect as well.
“Today we’re all feeling at peace. Tomorrow this might change, but our hope is that politicians here will take this message seriously,” she said.
Children dressed as cardinals gather at De La Croix Hospital in a suburb of Beirut before Pope Leo XIV’s visit on Dec. 2, 2025.
(Andreas Solaro / AFP/Getty Images)
Despite Leo’s reputation as a more subdued pontiff than his predecessor, Pope Francis, the 70-year-old Chicagoan seemed galvanized by the moment. He visited religious shrines, attended festive gatherings and took part in a multi-faith dialog of Christian and interreligious leaders, delivering addresses in English and French and throwing in the occasional phrase in Arabic to approving cheers.
His final day in Lebanon began with a visit to the De La Croix Hospital, a facility specializing in treating patients with psychological issues. He then moved to the port, where he spoke with some of the families of the 218 people killed in the 2020 explosion and held a silent vigil among the ruins.
As the popemobile made its way from the port to the waterfront, people jostled against metal barricades to get a better vantage point for smartphone videos.
By the time he arrived onstage, the event had the feel of a rock concert, with people waving Lebanese and Vatican flags to the music from an orchestra nearby.
As he did in other speeches, Leo did not shy away from discussing the ills befalling Lebanon. “Its beauty,” he said, was “overshadowed by poverty and suffering,” along with a “fragile and often unstable political context, the dramatic economic crisis that weighs heavily upon you and the violence and conflicts that have reawakened ancient fears.”
People carrying flags of the Vatican and Lebanon gather at De La Croix Hospital in anticipation of the pope’s visit to the facility.
(Andreas Solaro / AFP/Getty Images)
“Let us cast off the armor of our ethnic and political divisions, open our religious confessions to mutual encounter and reawaken in our hearts the dream of a united Lebanon. A Lebanon where peace and justice reign, where all recognize each other as brothers and sisters,“ he said.
He added that the Middle East “needs new approaches in order to reject the mindset of revenge and violence,” and that “the path of mutual hostility and destruction in the horror of war has been traveled too long.” He did not speak about the creation of a Palestinian state but in recent months has endorsed a two-state solution, which Israel opposes.
Listening to the homily was Philippe Zarzour, a 59-year-old self-described real estate expert, who said the large crowd proved the importance of the pope’s message.
“This is a referendum. We’re a nation that wants peace. Enough war,” he said.
Still, Zarzour was realistic about what the pope could do.
“Can he change things?” he asked. “He helps people see the way. But otherwise? What is he, Jesus Christ?”
Leo also directed a message to Christians in the Levant, who over the decades have seen their presence dwindle to around 5% of the Middle East’s population.
“When the results of your efforts for peace are slow in coming, I invite you to lift your gaze to the Lord who is coming,” he said.
“Christians of the Levant, citizens of these lands in every respect, I repeat: Have courage! The whole church looks to you with affection and admiration.”
In his final speech, on the tarmac before flying out, he expressed regret that he could not visit the south of the country, which he said “is currently experiencing a state of conflict and uncertainty.”
“May the attacks and hostilities cease,” he said. “We must recognize that armed struggle brings no benefit. While weapons are lethal, negotiation, mediation and dialogue are constructive.”
Moments after his plane took off, the familiar buzz of Israeli drones, absent during the pope’s visit, could be heard once more over the capital.
