The streets of Beirut are humming with anticipation. Billboards along the city’s main roads—usually plastered with the faces of politicians—now bear the portrait of Pope Leo XIV. For many Lebanese, the arrival of the pontiff is more than a ceremonial visit; it’s a beacon of hope in a nation battered by years of crisis, conflict, and uncertainty.
“For the Lebanese, this visit by the pope is a great sign of hope and peace,” explained Marlène Hélou, a former deputy director of a Catholic school in the Beirut metropolitan area, just days before the pope’s expected arrival, according to La Croix. The whole country seems to be mobilizing, with even the city’s notoriously potholed roads getting a rare facelift. Locals joke, “We’d need two or three more visits from the pope to get all our roads paved,” underscoring the extraordinary efforts being made for this singular occasion.
But beneath the surface humor lies a deeper yearning. Lebanon has endured a string of calamities: the devastating 2020 Beirut port explosion that killed 235 and injured 6,500, a crippling financial and monetary collapse, years of political paralysis marked by a presidential vacancy from October 2022 to January 2025, and the ongoing regional turmoil of the Syrian war and the renewed 2023 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. As Israeli strikes again shook Beirut just last week—targeting a Hezbollah military leader—many in the city felt the familiar pang of fear. “People are afraid,” Hélou admitted, describing the exhaustion of living with the constant “buzzing of drones above us.”
Yet, even in these dark times, the Lebanese refuse to surrender to despair. The country’s resilience, famously on display in the chaotic hours after the port explosion, continues to define its people. Some survivors, rescued from the rubble by strangers, told La Croix they felt as if they’d been “carried by angels.” This spirit of solidarity and faith is what Pope Leo XIV will encounter as he arrives in Beirut, following in the footsteps of predecessors Paul VI, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI—and three years after Pope Francis’s canceled visit left many disappointed.
There’s a palpable sense of unity in the air. Lebanon, for all its divisions, has a remarkable tradition of interfaith conviviality. Since 2010, March 25—the Annunciation—has been celebrated as a national holiday, bringing Christians and Muslims together in a rare show of national harmony. The Virgin Mary, revered by both communities, serves as a powerful symbol of this shared devotion. “We’re a people full of divisions, but we also know how to come together, because the Lebanese love God,” said a woman who was born at the onset of the civil war in 1975. The figure of St. Charbel, the 19th-century monk credited with numerous miracles, also unites the faithful. Pope Leo XIV will make history as the first pope to visit St. Charbel’s tomb—a gesture Hélou described as “a very important sign for the entire Lebanese population.”
For many, the pope’s visit is a lifeline. Melhem Khalaf, an Orthodox Christian and member of parliament, told La Croix that “the only one who can provide a compass, a reference point, today is the Pope.” Khalaf, who has long worked with young people to rebuild civil peace through organizations like Offrejoie, hopes the pontiff will help Lebanon rediscover its “vocation of unity in diversity,” especially at a time when political leaders “have gradually distorted this message through their erratic behavior.”
Indeed, frustration with Lebanon’s political class runs deep. On social media, a message from Hassan Ahmad Khalil, a Muslim Lebanese man distanced from religious institutions, went viral. He pleaded, “Your Holiness, I implore you to focus solely on the people. On the poor, the needy, the sick, the orphans, and the victims of crimes committed by some of those in the first row.” He continued, “In the back row, you may find a few pious, pure, and fervent believers, people of integrity who truly worship Christ and God not out of fear, not out of terror, but out of love, for God is love.”
Outside Lebanon, the pope’s journey is also making headlines. On November 29, 2025, Pope Leo XIV made a historic visit to Istanbul’s Blue Mosque, according to the Associated Press and Reuters. It was his first known entry as leader of the Catholic Church into a Muslim place of worship. The pontiff, wearing white socks after removing his shoes, was led on a 20-minute tour of the mosque—capable of holding 10,000 worshippers—by its imam and the mufti of Istanbul. The Blue Mosque, officially named for Sultan Ahmed I, is famed for its thousands of blue ceramic tiles. The pope smiled, joked with the mosque’s lead muezzin, and even quipped as he was guided toward a door marked “No exit.” “It says no exit,” Leo said with a grin. “You don’t have to go out, you can stay here,” replied the muezzin, Askin Tunca, according to Reuters.
Though Tunca invited the pope to pray, Leo declined, preferring to simply visit the mosque. The Vatican later clarified that the visit was “in a spirit of reflection and listening, with deep respect for the place and for the faith of those who gather there in prayer.” A brief mix-up occurred when the Vatican mistakenly released a statement claiming the pope had prayed and been welcomed by Turkey’s state religious organization, but this was promptly corrected. Notably, Leo did not visit the nearby Hagia Sophia—a site with a complex religious history, recently reconverted into a mosque in 2020, a move that drew international criticism and saddened the late Pope Francis.
Leo’s choice of Turkey and Lebanon as his first overseas destinations is no accident. His visit to Turkey marked the 1,700th anniversary of the landmark Church council that produced the Nicene Creed, a foundational statement of Christian faith. At a ceremony commemorating the council, Leo condemned violence in the name of religion and called on Christians to overcome their divisions. “It is a scandal that the world’s 2.6 billion Christians are not more united,” he told senior clerics from across the Middle East, as reported by Reuters.
Back in Lebanon, the pope’s schedule includes a symbolic stop at the port of Beirut, where families of victims still demand justice for the 2020 explosion. The visit comes as Israel maintains strikes on Hezbollah targets and occupies parts of southern Lebanon, fueling ongoing instability, according to AFP. Yet, for a brief moment, the pope’s message of peace offers a rare sense of unity for a nation caught between war and fragile calm.
As the pope’s arrival draws near, Lebanese of all faiths await him with hope, undeterred by concerns for his safety. “Wherever the Pope chooses to go in Lebanon, the Virgin Mary will protect him,” Marlène Hélou said with conviction. For a country that has endured so much darkness, the visit of Pope Leo XIV is a reminder that hope—and perhaps even resurrection—remains within reach.
