Overview
- Leo XIV closed the trip with a large outdoor Mass on Beirut’s waterfront that drew about 150,000 people before departing for Rome.
- He prayed at the site of the 2020 port explosion, laid a wreath, and met relatives of victims in a gesture of consolation.
- In speeches, he called on Lebanese to remain in their country and to choose reconciliation to heal collective and personal wounds.
- He restated the Holy See’s backing for an Israeli–Palestinian two‑state solution during his first in‑flight press conference as pope.
- The visit followed recent Israeli strikes that killed Hezbollah commander Haytham Ali Tabatabai, and the government marked the trip with two public holidays.