Pope Leo XIV Lands in Rome After Historic First Papal Trip to Turkey and Lebanon

Pope Leo XIV arrived back in Rome on Tuesday afternoon after six days in Turkey and Lebanon for the first international trip of his papacy from Nov. 27 to Dec. 2.

Speaking to journalists aboard the papal plane, the pope said he is speaking with U.S. President Donald Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the need to halt violence and seek solutions in the Middle East. He said he believes “sustainable peace is achievable” for the region and for Lebanon.

Leo also addressed concerns about Islam in Europe, saying such fear is often “generated by people who are against immigration.”

Read more about what Pope Leo said during the inflight press conference from EWTN News' Elias Turk.

In his final remarks in Beirut on Tuesday, before boarding the plane for Rome, Pope Leo XIV said to the Lebanese people, “leaving this land means carrying you in my heart.”

In a farewell ceremony at the International Airport of Beirut, the pope was addressed by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, before sharing his own final thoughts on the visit.

“We are not leaving each other; rather, having met, we will move forward together,” Leo said. “We hope to involve the entire Middle East in this spirit of fraternity and commitment to peace, including those who currently consider themselves enemies.”

President Aoun thanked Pope Leo “for entrusting Lebanon with the message of peace.”

“And I, in turn, would like to convey to you that we have heard your message. And we will continue to embody it,” he said.

Pope Leo is expected to land in Rome at 4:25 p.m. local time after a nearly four-hour flight.

At the end of Mass in Beirut on Tuesday, Pope Leo XIV made a strong appeal for peace and reconciliation in Lebanon and throughout the Middle East.

"I ask the international community once again to spare no effort in promoting processes of dialogue and reconciliation, and make a heartfelt appeal to those who hold political and social authority here and in all countries marked by war and violence: Listen to the cry of your peoples, who are calling for peace!" he said at the Beirut Waterfront on Dec. 2.

Read the full text of the appeal below:

Dear brothers and sisters,

During these days of my first apostolic journey, undertaken during this jubilee year, I wanted to come as a pilgrim of hope to the Middle East, imploring God for the gift of peace in this beloved land marked by instability, wars, and suffering.

Dear Christians of the Levant, when the results of your efforts for peace are slow in coming, I invite you to lift your gaze to the Lord who is coming. Let us look to him with hope and courage, inviting everyone to set out on the path of coexistence for eternity and peace. Be artisans of peace, heralds of peace, witnesses of peace.

The Middle East needs new  approaches in order to reject the mindset of revenge and violence. To overcome political, social, and religious divisions, and to open new chapters in the name of reconciliation and peace. 

The path of mutual hostility and destruction in the horror of war has been traveled too long, with the deplorable results that are before everyone’s eyes. We need to change course, we need to educate our hearts for peace!

From this square, I pray for the Middle East and all peoples who suffer because of war. I also offer hopeful prayers for a peaceful solution to the current political disputes in Guinea Bissau, nor do I forget the victims, and their dear families, of the fire in Hong Kong.

I especially pray for beloved Lebanon! I ask the international community once again to spare no effort in promoting processes of dialogue and reconciliation, and make a heartfelt appeal to those who hold political and social authority here and in all countries marked by war and violence: Listen to the cry of your peoples, who are calling for peace!

Let us all place ourselves at the service of life, the common good, and the integral development of people.

Finally, to you Christians of the Levant, citizens of these lands in every respect: I repeat, have courage! The whole Church looks to you with affection and admiration. 

May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Harissa, protect you always.

“Lebanon, stand up. Be a home of justice and fraternity. Be a prophetic sign of peace for the whole of the Levant,” Pope Leo XIV said in his homily at an outdoor Mass in Beirut on Tuesday.

Leo spoke of praise, hope, beauty and responsibility at a liturgy to close the final day of the pope’s visit to a nation strained by frequent political paralysis, economic free fall, and persistent instability.

Read more from EWTN News' Elias Turk, on the ground in Lebanon.

Pope Leo XIV is celebrating Mass for an estimated 150,000 people at the Beirut Waterfront on Tuesday, on the final day of his historic apostolic journey to Turkey and Lebanon Nov. 27 to Dec. 2.

Earlier on Tuesday, Pope Leo XIV stopped to pray at the site of the 2020 explosion at the Port of Beirut. He also greeted and comforted family members of victims who died in the blast.

In the last appointment of his historic first papal trip to Turkey and Lebanon, Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass for the largest crowds of his trip at Beirut’s Waterfront.

On the final morning of his trip to Lebanon, Pope Leo XIV paused before the ruins of the Beirut port explosion, praying in silence and placing a wreath in memory of the victims. He also met families of those killed and survivors still carrying the wounds of the Aug. 4, 2020 blast.

Five years after the explosion, one of the largest non-nuclear blasts in history, families of the 236 people killed and more than 7,000 wounded say they are still waiting for truth and accountability.

Read more from EWTN News’ Elias Turk, on the ground in Lebanon.

At the end of his visit to De La Croix Hospital in Jal el Dib, north of Beirut, on Tuesday morning, the pope visited the Saint-Dominique wing, where children with severe physical and mental disabilities are cared for.

“You are close to the heart of God our Father. He holds you in the palm of his hand,” Pope Leo XIV said to the mentally disabled patients at De La Croix Hospital in Jal el Dib, north of Beirut, on Tuesday morning.

“I love you, I care for you, you are my child. Never forget this,” he added.

One of the Franciscan Sisters of the Cross of Lebanon, who work at the hospital, Sister Wardie, told journalists that De La Croix Hospital is the only specialized psychiatric hospital in the Middle East. It cares for around 800 patients from babies to adults.

“We take care of the children as soon as the doctor informs us of a psychiatric diagnosis. Even if the family has no money,” she said.

Read more from EWTN News’ Elias Turk, on the ground in Lebanon.

Children dressed as the pope, cardinals, and Swiss Guards waited to greet Pope Leo XIV at the first stop of his last day in Lebanon on Tuesday, the Hospital of the Cross in Jal ed Dib, north of Beirut.

As part of his visit to Lebanon, Pope Leo XIV will pray at the site of the Aug. 4, 2020, Beirut port explosion — the largest nonnuclear blast in modern history. For William Noun, the brother of a victim, this initiative is crucial and a continuation of what Pope Francis began. 

The explosion left more than 200 dead and 6,000 injured — 800 hospitalized in regular wards, 130 in intensive care. The word most used by witnesses to describe the situation was “apocalyptic.” 

Noun spoke with ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, about his visit to the Vatican to meet Pope Francis in 2024 as well as the significance of Pope Leo’s visit to Lebanon this week. 

Pope Leo XIV told thousands of young people in Lebanon on Monday that love, not retaliation, is the real force capable of transforming their country as it continues to grapple with the wounds of conflict and social instability. “The true opposition to evil is not evil, but love,” he said, calling the nation’s youth to rebuild their homeland through reconciliation, service, and a renewed rooting in faith.

The gathering took place in the square before the Maronite Patriarchate of Antioch, in Bkerké, where the pope was welcomed by Patriarch Cardinal Béchara Boutros Raï. After greeting the crowd in a brief tour, Pope Leo opened his address with the Arabic words “assalamu alaykum,” meaning “peace be with you,” telling the young people that this greeting of the risen Christ “sustains the joy of our meeting.”

Read more of what the pope said.

Pope Leo XIV told Lebanon’s religious leaders on Monday that their country remains a sign to the world that fear and prejudice do not have the final word.

Lebanon “remains a sign that unity and peace can be achieved,” he said at an ecumenical and interreligious meeting in Beirut’s Martyrs’ Square.

Read more from EWTN News’ Elias Turk, on the ground in Lebanon.

Religious leaders addressed Pope Leo XIV at an ecumenical and interreligious event at Martrys’ Square in Beirut on Monday afternoon.

The program includes testimony from Sunni and Shiite, Druze, Greek Orthodox, Syriac Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Protestant, and Alawite (an off-shoot of Shia Islam) leaders, before the pope will deliver his own address. The event also included music and the chanting of passages from the Gospel and the Quran.

Pope Leo XIV was greeted by locals lining the streets on his way to Martyrs’ Square for an ecumenical and interreligious meeting in Beirut on Monday afternoon.

The encounter at the symbolic location will include local Catholic, Muslim, and other religious leaders.

Pope Leo XIV had a private meeting with the Council of Catholic Patriarchs of the East (CPCO) in Beirut, before sharing lunch with both the Catholic leaders and local Orthodox patriarchs on Monday afternoon.

The CPCO includes the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, who is in Lebanon for the pope’s visit to the Middle Eastern country.

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Prefect of the Dicastery of Eastern Churches Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, and Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity Cardinal Kurt Koch also took part in the encounters.

Billboards in central Beirut invite Catholics to attend Mass with Pope Leo XIV at the Beirut Waterfront on Dec. 2. The Mass will be the pope's final event in Lebanon before returning to Rome at the end of his first apostolic journey.

Catch up on highlights and speeches from Pope Leo XIV's apostolic journey to Lebanon and Turkey on EWTN News' YouTube page.

At the end of his meeting with bishops, clergy, and religious in Harissa, Lebanon, on Monday, Pope Leo XIV blessed the cornerstone of a new Christian media center to be built in Lebanon.

The center will include indoor and outdoor television studios and educational spaces.

Télé Lumière, the first Christian television station in Lebanon and the Arab world, founded in 1991, is building the "Media City."

During the blessing ceremony, Télé Lumière Chairman Bishop Antoine Nabil Andari thanked the pope for what he described as a “highly meaningful gesture,” summarizing the mission of the Media City in three Latin words: "veritas, caritas, unitas," meaning truth, love, and unity.

On Monday morning, Pope Leo XIV became the first pope to pray at the tomb of St. Charbel. Watch this historic moment:

During his visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa, Lebanon, on Monday, Leo XIV gave a Golden Rose to the Virgin Mary.

The traditional papal gift, presented to major Marian shrines, is a gold branch of roses set in a silver vase and mounted on white marble. It bears the papal coat of arms and symbolizes the pope’s devotion to the Mother of God.

Leo said the rose’s fragrance calls Christians to be “the fragrance of Christ,” drawing a parallel to the richness and diversity of Lebanese family tables and encouraging the faithful to live that spirit of shared love each day.

Read more about the pope’s visit to the Marian shrine from EWTN News’ Elias Turk, on the ground in Lebanon.

Pope Leo XIV told Lebanon’s bishops, clergy, and pastoral workers that Christians can remain steadfast in hope “even when surrounded by the sound of weapons,” urging them to look to the Virgin Mary as a model of faith in dark and uncertain times.

Speaking at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa on the second day of his apostolic visit, the pope said that Mary teaches believers how to persevere when daily life becomes a struggle.

Read more from EWTN News’ Elias Turk, on the ground in Lebanon.

Bishops, priests, religious, and pastoral workers wait in anticipation for Pope Leo XIV's arrival to the Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon, in Harissa, on the second day of his apostolic journey to Lebanon.

Pope Leo XIV began his second day in Lebanon on Monday with a deeply symbolic pilgrimage to the tomb of Saint Charbel Makhlouf, entrusting the country and the wider Middle East to the intercession of the saint whom many Lebanese, Christians and Muslims alike, invoke as the “heavenly physician.”

After praying in silence at the saint’s tomb, the pope reflected on the saint’s enduring message. Despite leaving behind no writings, the hermit of Annaya continues to speak with surprising power, he said.

Read more from EWTN News’ Elias Turk, on the ground in Lebanon.

On Monday morning, Pope Leo XIV became the first pope in history to visit the tomb of St. Charbel Makhlouf, when he arrived at the Monastery of St. Maron, in Annaya, on the second day of his apostolic journey to Lebanon.