by Fady Noun

The expectations of the people of Beirut two weeks before the Pope's arrival. Sadness over a brief and heavily guarded visit: ‘Will he really be able to see the country as it is, or will they give him the false impression that everything is fine?’ But also the certainty that ‘his presence will be a message in any case’. Prevost will arrive immediately after the National Day on 22 November and exactly one year after the ceasefire that still does not spare the Lebanese from Israeli incursions.

Beirut (AsiaNews) - It is somewhat through the eyes of Francis - his predecessor, who was unable to do so - that Pope Leo XIV will visit Lebanon from 30 November to 2 December 2025.

With his eyes, his heart and the same concern to save a nation in crisis, ‘a message of pluralism and tolerance for the East and the West’ whose ‘loss would be one of the world's regrets’, as John Paul II once said.

But will Leo XIV really have time to see Lebanon, to whose bedside he is travelling? Of course, his speeches are ready, and the time to deliver them has been calculated.

But his visit seems too short and overloaded. It is structured around a marathon day on 1 December, during which he will have to rush from one event to another: the tomb of Saint Charbel (whose floor is currently being renovated, as shown in the photo), a stop in Harissa (Our Lady of Lebanon), an ecumenical and interfaith meeting limited to 350 people in Martyrs' Square - under a marquee erected by the Solidere company - and finally a meeting with young people in Bkerké, with just enough time to reach the venues by car and catch his breath.

The other two half-days of his stay will be devoted, the first to his arrival from ancient Nicaea and protocol meetings at the presidential palace; the other to a morning visit to the Convent of the Cross, in the Christian suburbs (a complex that houses a psychiatric hospital unique in the Middle East), to an open-air mass on the heavily guarded Beirut seafront, and finally to the departure ceremony at the airport.

Reacting to the generous resurfacing of the roads that the popemobile will travel on, a young lawyer, who asked to remain anonymous, says he understands that such a prestigious guest should receive the welcome he deserves.

However, he fears that the Pope may have ‘the false impression that everything is fine’, while ‘in a country riddled with corruption and where the population's savings have been swallowed up by the banks’, many like him ‘do not have the means to start a family in the country where they were born’.

Read the Pope's message

This frustration is not felt by everyone. Nathalie G., an interpreter, is ‘happy that the Pope is turning his gaze to Lebanon’ and hopes that the population ‘will be able to read the message he brings’. ‘Perhaps his presence alone will be a message,’ she adds. "Perhaps he is coming here because this is where he can come; perhaps he would have liked to go to Gaza or Syria. There are many countries in the region troubled by suffering."

These beliefs are not uncommon, especially in popular piety circles, where prayers for the visit are offered day and night. Three national prayer services have been scheduled for the three days immediately preceding the visit.

In addition, Monday 1 and Tuesday 2 December have been declared public holidays to allow the population to devote themselves fully to the joy of welcoming the Pope. Travel agencies, airlines and hotels have seen a significant increase in bookings for the occasion.

The press and television comment on the fact that the visit will come immediately after the National Day on 22 November, a holiday disdained by Hezbollah, which, against all common sense, wants to impose its own agenda on the Lebanese state.

The visit also coincides with the first anniversary of the cessation of hostilities agreement between Hezbollah and Israel (27 November), a draconian agreement that has Lebanon living, at this time, to the rhythm of ground incursions, drones and air raids by the Jewish state, in a spiral of warnings whose conclusion could prove fatal to the relative stability of the country.

Security conditions

It is precisely the precariousness of this situation that has probably prompted the organisers to tighten security conditions surrounding the visit.

Of course, the organisers reject the fear that the Pope will end up being isolated from the population and that the pontiff's paternal visit will turn into a “test of good behaviour” for the local Church, in the words of a sceptical intellectual.

However, it should be noted that Lebanese journalists have not received general accreditation and will be confined to a single pre-selected event, which they will not be able to attend by their own means.

Like all the faithful, they will not be able to cross the security cordons set up by the police (army and internal security) and will have to content themselves with seeing the Pope from a distance or as he passes by in his popemobile.

Along the Pope's route, municipalities, parishes and schools have been tasked with organising the welcome, hoping that the weather will be fine on that day. The Pope's vehicle will be closed, they assure us.

It therefore seems unlikely that Leo XIV will be greeted by crowds, except perhaps in Bkerké. For a population that has elevated disorder to the rank of national art, this discipline will not be easy to respect. Many may therefore choose to follow the visit on television.

‘The necessary has been done’

Concerns about the weather do not seem to dampen the optimism of Monsignor Paolo Borgia, apostolic nuncio, who will host the Pope for two nights on the green hill overlooking the Basilica of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa, where the nunciature is located. The prelate rejoices  in the ‘enthusiasm for the visit’ shown by Christian and Muslim leaders. ‘Everyone is working as one,’ he assures.

When asked during a preparatory meeting held at the Catholic Information Centre about the possibility of rain during the Pope's visit, Paolo Borgia replied with a smile: ‘The necessary has been done.’ All of Lebanon hopes so.

• Lebanon
• Beirut
• Leo XIV
• journey