The Vatican announced that Pope Leo XIV will visit Lebanon next month and pray at the site of the 2020 Beirut Port explosion during his first overseas trip as the head of the Catholic Church.
According to the Vatican’s official program, the Pope’s visit will take place from November 27 to December 2 and will include several stops focusing on interfaith dialogue, Christian unity, the suffering of Christians in the Middle East, and broader regional tensions.
The trip will also include a visit to Turkey to commemorate the 1700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea, one of the seven ecumenical councils recognized by both the Roman Catholic and Byzantine Churches.
The Vatican confirmed that the Pope’s visit to Lebanon will run from November 30 to December 2, during which he will hold a special prayer service at the Beirut Port explosion site.
The blast, which occurred in August 2020, claimed more than 200 lives and deepened Lebanon’s economic and political crisis.
The late Pope Francis had previously planned to visit both Lebanon and Turkey but passed away earlier this year before realizing those plans.
He had expressed a strong desire to visit Lebanon, though the country’s political and economic turmoil had prevented it during his lifetime.
Since the beginning of his papacy, Pope Leo XIV has affirmed his commitment to fulfilling the unfinished missions of his predecessor.
His itinerary includes several moments of joint prayer with the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I.
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