In Jal el-Dib, just north of Beirut, fresh asphalt now leads to the Hospital of the Holy Cross, and fresh paint is being applied to the ward Pope Leo XIV will visit on 2 December.
Sister Rose Hanna, a Franciscan Sister of the Holy Cross who heads the facility, says the pope’s visit to the hospital that cares for about 800 special needs adults, including people with physical and mental health challenges, is “a grace and a blessing.” She hopes it will encourage families to visit their loved ones in the hospital more often, as “psychiatry is still taboo in Lebanon.”
Sister Hanna also hopes the papal visit will “bring peace.”
“Every day, we hope for peace,” she said.
After six difficult years — due to the pandemic, a dramatic economic collapse, the 2020 Beirut port blast and ongoing war — Michel Constantin, CNEWA’s regional director in Lebanon, hopes the visit will “send a strong message that Pope Leo XIV stands with the Lebanese, in a country where Christians remain deeply present socially, politically and economically.”
The visit of the pope, under the theme, “Blessed Are the Peacemakers” (Mt 5:9), comes at a time when Israel has warned of a renewed all-out war on Lebanon.
Pope Leo is scheduled to meet with political leaders of Lebanon, representatives of civil society and diplomats after his arrival in Beirut the afternoon of 30 November. He is expected to visit the tomb of St. Charbel Makhlouf in Annaya on 1 December, then meet with church leaders in Harissa, before returning to Beirut for an ecumenical and interreligious gathering and a meeting with Lebanese youth in Bkerké. After visiting the hospital on 2 December, he is scheduled celebrate Mass on the Beirut waterfront, where an explosion nearby killed 235 people and injured 6,000.
Mr. Constantin said he hopes the pope will urge “the local church to reform” amid Lebanon’s many challenges. He said church institutions are struggling financially and risk “losing their essential role in supporting the poorest among the poor” and providing education and health care to all.
“Pope Leo XIV comes as a messenger of peace,” said Maronite Bishop Michel Aoun of Jbeil, president of the Assembly of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops in Lebanon and coordinator of the church committee for the visit.
“The Holy Father is coming for all Lebanese. The Christians and the Muslims in this country need help together,” he said. He hopes the papal visit will encourage “young people currently facing countless challenges and looking for a future outside Lebanon.”
He expects the pope to urge Lebanon to move forward through a “purification of memory,” echoing the call issued by Pope John Paul II on his visit to the country in 1997, seven years after the 15-year civil war. During this visit, he issued the apostolic exhortation “A New Hope for Lebanon.”
Benedict XVI visited Lebanon in 2012 at a time of “rising fanatical Islamic communities, which posed a dangerous threat to religious freedom” in the Middle East, delivering the apostolic exhortation “On the Church in the Middle East,” which addressed religious freedom in the region.
According to Maronite Father Dany Dargham, a priest at Our Lady of the Gifts Parish in Beirut, Pope Leo’s visit is different because “it is not tied to any specific ecclesiastical initiative.” Nevertheless, it still carries “strong pastoral and symbolic value.”
Karim Emile Bitar, professor of international relations at St. Joseph University of Beirut, said the visit of Pope Leo “is perhaps as important as John Paul II’s.”
“Some states, such as France or the Vatican, who do not follow the Israeli American hawkish line, can lobby for a pragmatic solution to make sure that Israel abides by its parts of the cessation of hostilities agreement,” he said. Israel and Hezbollah signed a ceasefire agreement in November 2024, although violations continue to occur.
“The Vatican is arguably one of the last moral authorities in the world, so if Pope Leo XIV speaks in favor of Lebanese sovereignty, territorial integrity and peace, and offers a message of hope, it will definitely be well received throughout Lebanon,” Mr. Bitar said.
Syriac Catholic Bishop Isaac Jules Boutros, responsible for youth ministry in Beirut, said people are “very enthusiastic” about the pope’s visit, “and willing to attend many events.” He said hundreds of young people are expected to travel from Syria, Iraq and Egypt to participate in the visit.
Sheikh Rabih Qubaisi from Tyre, a member of the Supreme Shiite Islamic council, views this visit as “a message of peace, love and renewed hope, affirming that religions … call for mercy, justice and cooperation.”
“We hope this visit will remain a moment of calm and reflection, not a prelude to escalation,” he said.
Sunni Sheikh Firas Ballout is director of the Religious Affairs Department at Dar al-Fatwa in Tripoli and North Lebanon, a government institution that issues rulings, oversees mosques and administers schools for Sunni Muslims. He underscored “the necessity of keeping Lebanon neutral from the surrounding conflicts, so that it remains a beacon of peace and love, not a conduit for regional disputes.”
Nayla Tabbara, co-founder of the Adyan Foundation, a nongovernmental organization that promotes social harmony and cultural understanding, says the papal visit will “highlight the solidarity” shown during the autumn 2024 war.
She noted a growing divide since Isael’s war on Gaza began in 2023, between those who support placing all weapons under state authority and those who, facing “Israel’s impunity,” question who would protect them without Hezbollah’s arms. Ms. Tabbara said she believes the visit could help “reduce this polarization” in Lebanese society.