Pope Leo XIV left Rome for a tour of Turkey and Lebanon and prayed Tuesday at the ruins of the 2020 Beirut port explosion, a site that has become a stark symbol of Lebanon’s dysfunction, impunity, and unresolved trauma. His visit marks the final day of his trip to the country.
Relatives of some of the 218 people killed in the blast stood silently as Leo arrived, holding photos of their loved ones. They gathered beside the skeletal remains of the last surviving grain silo and the charred piles of cars ignited by the explosion. Pope Leo stood in silent prayer amid the wreckage.
The August 4, 2020 blast, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in the history of the world — occurred when hundreds of tons of improperly stored ammonium nitrate detonated in a port warehouse. The explosion tore through Beirut, caused billions of dollars in damage, and devastated entire neighborhoods. The explosion generated a seismic event measuring 3.3 in magnitude, as reported by the United States Geological Survey. Its effects were felt in Lebanon and neighbouring regions, including Syria, Israel, and Cyprus, over 240 km (150 mi) away.
Five years later, families of the victims are still demanding justice. No officials have been convicted, and the judicial investigation has faced years of obstruction. Locals say that the Hezbollah, a terror state, within a state is to blame. Of course it’s hard for people to say that publicly or they will be assassinated in Lebanon.
Later, the pope celebrated Mass along the Beirut waterfront, calling for Lebanon to be a “home of justice and fraternity” and a “prophetic sign of peace” in the region.
In his homily, Leo acknowledged the many layers of crisis that have scarred Lebanon, referencing the port blast, economic collapse, and “the violence and conflicts that have reawakened ancient fears.”
He said it is natural for people to feel “paralyzed by powerlessness in the face of evil and oppressed by so many difficult situations.”
But the pope urged the Lebanese not to surrender to despair, insisting that hope and justice are essential parts of the country’s future.
“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,” he said. “A Lebanon where peace and justice reign, where all recognize each other as brothers and sisters.”
“Lebanon, stand up,” he added. “Be a home of justice and fraternity! Be a prophetic sign of peace for the whole of the Levant!”
Lebanon was never meant to be a Catholic country, but it was designed as a multi-confessional state with political power shared between Christians and Muslims. Under the 1943 National Pact, the president must be a Maronite Christian, giving Christians a guaranteed leadership role. Decades of civil war, demographic shifts seeing Christians flee, and regional conflicts have since eroded that balance, leaving the system strained and often paralyzed.
