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Lebanon

Pope Leo XIV prays in silence at the site of the 2020 port explosion in Beirut, Lebanon, on December 2, 2025. / AIGAV Pool

Pope Leo XIV Prays at Beirut Blast Site, Meets Families Seeking Justice

Dec 2, 2025

Pope Leo XIV paused on the final morning of his trip to Lebanon 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 2020 blast.

Pope Leo XIV greets a young mother and her child outside of the Monastery of St. Maron in Annaya, Lebanon, on Dec. 1, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Leo XIV to Lebanese Youth: Love, Not Retaliation, is the Real Answer to Evil

Dec 1, 2025

Pope Leo XIV met Lebanese youth in the square in front of the Maronite Patriarchate of Antioch in Bkerké on the second day of his apostolic visit to Lebanon.

Pope Leo XIV in Harissa, Lebanon, on Dec. 1, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Leo XIV Tells Lebanese Religious Leaders Unity and Peace Are Possible

Dec 1, 2025

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.

Pope Leo XIV reflects on the enduring message of St. Charbel Makhlouf at the hermit’s tomb at the Monastery of St. Maron in Annaya, Lebanon, on Dec. 1, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Leo XIV Entrusts Lebanon to St. Charbel’s Intercession, Prays at His Tomb

Dec 1, 2025

Pope Leo XIV began his second day in Lebanon on Monday with a deeply symbolic pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Charbel Makhlouf.

Pope Leo XIV speaks at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, Lebanon, on Nov. 30, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media/Screenshot

Pope Leo XIV Calls Lebanon to Tenacity, Hope, and Reconciliation

Nov 30, 2025

Pope Leo XIV urged Lebanon’s leaders to embrace tenacity, dialogue, and a renewed commitment to the common good during an address on Sunday.

Pope Leo XIV arrives in Lebanon on November 30, 2025. / Vatican Media

Pope Leo XIV Arrives in Lebanon, Bringing a Message of Peace to a Nation Scarred by War

Nov 30, 2025

The sky over Lebanon opened Sunday not to warplanes but to the aircraft carrying Pope Leo XIV.

Pope Leo XIV blesses rosaries for EWTN News' Elias Turk aboard the papal plane to Ankara, Turkey, on Nov. 27, 2025. / Credit: Courtesy Elias Turk of EWTN News.

Pope Leo XIV to Focus on Christian Unity, Relations with Islam in Turkey and Lebanon

Nov 27, 2025

Pope Leo XIV arrived in Turkey Thursday on his first international apostolic journey. The wide-ranging trip — spanning historic ecumenical encounters, deeply symbolic gestures of prayer, and pastoral visits to Christian communities under pressure — is expected to highlight the pope’s priorities of unity, peace, and encouragement across a region marked by both ancient faith and present suffering.

Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch Youssef Absi of Antioch (left) and Father Chihade Abboud, rector and parish priest of the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin (center), speak with Melkite Catholic Elie Bassila. Members of the Lebanese Catholic diaspora are anticipating Pope Leo XIV’s three-day visit to Lebanon, taking place from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2, 2025. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Elie Bassila

Lebanese Catholics Abroad Await Pope Leo XIV’s Visit to Their Homeland With Hope

Nov 17, 2025

Members of the Lebanese Catholic diaspora hope the new pontiff will continue his papal predecessors’ solidarity with the Middle East’s most Christian country.

Pope Leo XIV waves to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his Sunday Angelus on Oct. 26, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Leo to Pray at Tomb of St. Charbel During First Apostolic Journey to Turkey, Lebanon

Oct 27, 2025

The trip will center on two key moments: a pilgrimage to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea and a visit to the tomb of St. Charbel Makhlouf.

Pope Leo XIV waves to pilgrims gathered for the Mass for the Jubilee of Catechists on Sept. 28, 2025, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Leo XIV to Make First International Trip, to Turkey and Lebanon

Oct 7, 2025

Pope Leo XIV will visit Turkey and Lebanon in the first apostolic journey of his pontificate, to take place from Nov. 27 to Dec. 2, the Vatican announced Tuesday.

Rody Sher, editor-in-chief of ACI MENA, speaks on the second anniversary of ACI MENA in 2024 at the Catholic University in Erbil, Iraq, where the agency is based. This year marks three years since ACI MENA began its mssion to report on the Church and the lives of Christians in the Middle East. / Credit: ACI MENA

EWTN News Service in Middle East, Northern Africa Marks Three Years of Amplifying Voices of Christians, Trusted Source

Mar 26, 2025

A service of EWTN News, ACI MENA was established in 2022 and currently operates from the Catholic University in Erbil, a city in northern Iraq.

An Israeli air strike hits the town of Khiam in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. / Credit: Mawan Semaan/ACI MENA

Lebanon Crisis Threatens Eastern Catholic Participation at Vatican Synod on Synodality

Sep 27, 2024

The Lebanon-Israel situation could diminish the presence of Eastern Catholic patriarchs from Lebanon at the Vatican’s Synod on Synodality, which begins Oct. 2.

Pope Francis meets with Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, at a meeting with other Arab bishops on Aug. 28, 2024, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Jerusalem Patriarch Announces "day of prayer and fasting" on October 7 Anniversary

Sep 26, 2024

“May each of us with the rosary or in whatever form he or she sees fit ... find a moment to pause and pray,” Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa wrote.

Olive harvest season in the southern border town of Rmeish, Lebanon, in the midst of a crisis situation. | Credit: Rmeish’s Facebook page

Almost All Christians Have Fled Southern Lebanon amid Israel-Hezbollah Bombing

Dec 21, 2023

Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shia militant group in Lebanon, began attacking Israel at the Israeli-Lebanese border following the beginning of the conflict.

"God protected me and the Virgin Mary did not leave me": Survivor of Turkey Earthquake

Mar 1, 2023

Only a few hours after Bassel Habkouk, a young Lebanese Catholic and father of two, arrived for a visit in Turkey on Feb. 6, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the country and nearby Syria.

Archbishop Paolo Borgia, transferred to the Vatican Diplomatic Mission in Lebanon. Credit: CECCI

Apostolic Nuncio in Ivory Coast Transferred, to Represent the Holy Father in Lebanon

Sep 26, 2022

Pope Francis has transferred Archbishop Paolo Borgia who has been serving as Apostolic Nuncio in Ivory Coast to the Vatican Diplomatic Mission in Lebanon.

Pope Francis meets with members of the Pontifical Liturgical Institute in the Apostolic Palace on May 7, 2022. Vatican Media.

Pope Francis’ Trip to Lebanon "delayed for health reasons"

May 9, 2022

Lebanon’s tourism minister announced the postponement, citing ‘health reasons.’

Children in South Sudan participating in the rosary campaign. ACN

"One million children praying rosary": Kids Join Rosary Initiative Inspired by Padre Pio

Oct 15, 2021

Children from 44 countries have already registered to take part in the rosary campaign.

Pope Francis speaks at Sunday Angelus on 30 May 2021. Vatican Media/CNA

The Holy Trinity invites us to grow in unity as Christians: Pope Francis

May 30, 2021

On the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Pope Francis said unity is essential to Christian life because God is a communion of love.

Pope Francis gives his Angelus address June 8, 2020. Credit: Vatican Media/CNA.

Even in Times of Darkness, God is There: Pope Francis

Aug 9, 2020

When caught in difficult moments or trials, turn your heart to God, who is near even when you do not search for him, Pope Francis said in his Angelus address Sunday.