VATICAN CITY (CNS) \u2014 Marking the one-year anniversary of a deadly explosion in Beirut, Pope Francis said Lebanon needs concrete help \u2014 not just words \u2014 from the international community, so it can emerge once again as a symbol of fraternity and peace for the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think above all of the victims and their families, the many injured, and those who lost their homes and livelihoods. So many people have lost the desire to go on,\u201d he said at the end of his general audience in the Paul VI audience hall on 4 August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDear people of Lebanon, I greatly desire to visit you and I continue to pray for you, so that Lebanon will once more be a message of peace and fraternity for the entire Middle East,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last year, in the early evening of 4 August, a massive blast in a port warehouse destroyed large sections of the center of the capital, killing at least 214 people and injuring thousands more. It displaced 300,000 people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The explosion \u2014 caused by a poorly stored stock of ammonium nitrate fertilizer \u2014 was one of the largest non-nuclear blasts in history. Protests were planned in the city on 4 August denouncing a lack of justice, transparency and accountability concerning the causes behind the blast and those responsible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meeting on 3 August, an international support group for Lebanon made up of world leaders urged authorities to complete their investigations and bring justice to survivors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
French President Emmanuel Macron and U.N. Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres were hosting a donor conference on 4 August seeking to raise $357 million in aid to meet the country\u2019s most urgent needs, providing food, education, health care and clean water. However, some world leaders have said their help would be conditional on Lebanon establishing a government that can fight corruption. Leaders in Lebanon have been unable to reach an agreement on forming a new government for the past 10 months, delaying reforms and tackling current crises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After his 4 August audience talk, Pope Francis appealed to the international community, asking it to help Lebanon, \u201cnot only with words but with concrete actions in undertaking a journey of resurrection.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said he hoped the conference led by France and the U.N. would prove fruitful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He recalled the day of prayer for Lebanon, hosted on 1 July at the Vatican, in which leaders of Christian churches reflected on the hopes and expectations of the people of Lebanon, who are also \u201ctired and disillusioned,\u201d and prayed that God give the \u201clight of hope to overcome this difficult crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n