Pope Leo wraps up Lebanon visit with prayers at site of Beirut port blast

One of his final stops in Lebanon was when Pope Leo XIV stopped to pray at the site of the 2020 Beirut port explosion.

On Tuesday morning, the Catholic leader lit a lamp and silently prayed at a monument dedicated to the more than 220 victims and 6,500 others who had been injured in the explosion. During his first trip abroad, the American-born pontiff urged peaceful coexistence in the Middle East.

The Pontiff greeted each of the survivors and victims’ relatives as they spoke, blessed, and spoke with mounds of rubble and the remains of the facility in view.

The Pope has visited us, and Cecile Roukoz, a lawyer whose brother died in the explosion, expressed her gratitude. We are aware of his plea for justice, and we must do it for the sake of our brothers and the lives of all those who were the victims of this explosion.

According to Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, who was reporting from Beirut’s waterfront where Leo later celebrated Mass, many Lebanese people see his gesture at the blast site as a powerful gesture.

She said, “It really meant a lot for the Pope to speak to the family members one by one.”

Five years after the blast, which ripped through neighborhoods and caused billions of dollars in damage, victims and their families are still fighting for justice.

No official has been found guilty in a judicial investigation that has been repeatedly obstructed, infuriating Lebanese, for whom the blast was the most recent example of impunity following decades of corruption and financial crimes.

Leo had urged Lebanon’s political leaders to pursue the truth as a means of peace and reconciliation when he arrived on Sunday.

“Reduce ethnic and political divisions”

The Pope’s Mass was attended by thousands of people in Beirut’s waterfront, ending his three-day visit.

He urged Lebanon’s citizens to “cast off the armour of our ethnic and political divisions,” urging the people to “unify our efforts so that this land can return to its glory.”

He claimed that he wanted “a Lebanon where all people would recognize each other as brothers and sisters” and that peace and justice would rule.

According to the Vatican’s press release, 150 000 people showed up for the outdoor ceremony, citing Lebanese authorities.

The result was a significantly lower turnout than the 300,000 people who attended Pope Benedict XVI’s 2012 waterfront Mass during his most recent papal visit to Lebanon.

The discrepancy, according to Khodr, is in line with the recent mass exodus of Lebanese, including Christians, driven by the country’s growing economic and political unrest, which includes deep sectarian strife.

Since Pope Benedict XVI arrived, the nation has experienced a crisis after crisis, including an economic collapse, people losing their savings, and then a port explosion, according to Khodr.

“And now there is Hezbollah’s ongoing conflict with Israel.” Really, the list goes on. People here say “we are struggling, but we appreciate the Pope’s presence,” but “life is difficult and we are struggling.”