Lebanon overjoyed by Leo XIV's visit 60 years after ‘Nostra Aetate’
Choosing a country that wants to return to being a model of pluralism is a “significant” step said Marwan Sehnaoui, president of the Order of Malta in Lebanon, speaking to AsiaNews. The visit will also include a meeting on Muslim-Christian dialogue. All leading government officials, including President Aoun, a Christian, and Parliamentary Speaker Nabib Berri, welcome the announcement of the visit, which will fulfil the late pope Francis’s wish to visit Lebanon.
Beirut (AsiaNews) – The apostolic journey will be a packed schedule, marked by traditional events and appointments that distinguish every pontiff's visit abroad.
The visit will include meetings and speeches in the presence of civil and religious authorities at the presidential palace, a meeting with young people and apostolic movements, in the large courtyard outside the Maronite patriarchal seat in Bkerké, a solemn open-air Mass, whose location has not yet been chosen, and meetings on Muslim-Christian relations and interfaith dialogue.
These are some of the highlights of Pope Leo XIV's visit to Turkey and Lebanon from 27 November to 2 December, according to sources from the apostolic nunciature in Beirut contacted by AsiaNews.
However, for a son of Saint Augustine chosen as Peter's successor at the helm of the Catholic Church, “a visit to the convent of Saint Maron, to the tomb of Saint Charbel" cannot be ruled out.”
The Holy See confirmed, in an official announcement released on Tuesday at 1 pm Beirut time, the schedule of Pope Leo XIV's visit to Lebanon from 30 November to 2 December.
The first leg of the apostolic journey will then take him to İznik (ancient Nicaea, Turkey) for the 1,700th anniversary of the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, a crucial event in the history of Christianity.
After John Paul II (1997) and Benedict XVI (2010), Leo XIV will be the third pope to visit Lebanon, fulfilling the wishes of his predecessor, Francis, whose visit was prevented by various factors, including his health.
For Marwan Sehnaoui, president of the Order of Malta in Lebanon, "the fact that the Holy Father chose Lebanon as his first country to visit is significant: he is saying that Lebanon, which John Paul II considered a 'model of pluralism,' is at the heart of interreligious dialogue. This visit is a breath of hope for the sacred land of Lebanon and Lebanon as a message.”
Many leading figures, including the Lebanese president and the Maronite Patriarch, welcomed the fact that the Sovereign Pontiff chose Lebanon for his first apostolic visit outside Italy.
According to Mohammad Sammak, Secretary General of the National Commission for Islamic-Christian Dialogue, whose I close to the Mufti of the Republic, the Holy Father wants to commemorate in Lebanon the 60th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council's Declaration Nostra Aetate (28 October 1965) on the relations of the Catholic Church with non-Christian religions.
“In response to the invitation of the Head of State and Ecclesiastical Authorities of Lebanon, the Holy Father subsequently will undertake an Apostolic Journey in that country from 30 November to 2 December 2025,” Lebanon's National News Agency reported quoting the Holy See Press Office. “The itinerary of the Apostolic Journey will be announced in due course,” it added.
“In Lebanon, I will have the opportunity to once again proclaim the message of peace in the Middle East, in a country that has suffered so much. Pope Francis wanted to go there too. He wanted to embrace the people of Lebanon after the explosion, after everything they’ve endured. We will try to bring this message of peace and hope,” Leo XIV told reporters Tuesday at Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence near Rome.
Aoun welcomes the pope's announcement
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun welcomed "on behalf of the Lebanese people" the Holy See's announcement, "with firm faith and a conscience filled with gratitude”.
"This blessed visit represents a milestone in the history of the profound relationship that unites Lebanon with the Holy See," he added. It embodies "the Vatican’s unwavering confidence in the role of Lebanon's role as a message and a homeland.”
Aoun said he was honoured to see Lebanon included in the Holy Father's first apostolic journey outside Italy.
“This visit, which comes at the beginning of his pontificate, is not mere protocol, but an important historical moment. It signifies that Lebanon, despite its wounds, remains present in the heart of the universal Church and in the conscience of the world, that it remains there as a space of freedom, a land of coexistence, and a unique humanitarian message from Heaven that challenges the conscience of humanity," the president said.
“All Lebanese, Christians and Muslims, from various sects and communities, are now preparing to receive him with sincere joy and rare national unity, reflecting the true image of Lebanon,” Aoun added.
“We see in it a renewed call for peace, to consolidate the authentic Christian presence in this East, and to preserve the Lebanese model, which is a need for the world as well as the region,” the president noted before thanking the pontiff for accepting the invitation.
Berri, a "historic visit"
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri also welcomed the pope's visit, according to remarks reported by former minister Wadih el-Khazen, president of the Maronite Central Council, whom he met in Ain el-Tiné.
For the leader of the predominantly Shia Amal movement, this historic visit represents “a new ray of hope for the Lebanese in these times marked by multiple crises and trials”. He trusts that it will bring "goodness, peace, and hope" to the country, which "more than ever" needs signs of encouragement to remain united.
Berri also underscored the fact that, upon his arrival, the pontiff will be welcomed at Beirut International Airport by President Joseph Aoun, a Christian, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, a Sunni Muslim, and himself, a Shia Muslim, which will "reflect true national unity and the Lebanese people's concern for the continuity and stability of their country."
"The best tribute Lebanon could offer the pope during this visit would be the full implementation of UN resolution 1701 (which ended the 2006 war) before his arrival, so that the Israeli army withdraws from the Lebanese territory it still occupies in the South and ceases its daily violations as well as its repeated bombardments targeting innocent civilians," Berri is cited as saying.
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