Léon XIV received by Joseph and Neemat Aoun at Beirut International Airport, on November 30, 2025. Photo Mohammad Yassine / L'Orient-Le Jour
BEIRUT — The "messenger of peace" has arrived in Lebanon, the "land of peace," Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Sunday evening, welcoming Pope Leo XIV during a ceremony at Baabda Presidential Palace. Both leaders highlighted the "perseverance" of the Lebanese people in the face of war, crises and emigration.
"Your Holiness, tell the world on our behalf that we will not die, we will not leave, we will not despair, and we will not give in," Aoun declared. Echoing him, the pope said that despite "extremism" and conflict, the Lebanese "are always reborn."
The pontiff arrived from Turkey, where he began his inaugural apostolic journey, landing at Beirut airport at 3:30 p.m. His plane, adorned with Vatican and Lebanese flags, was escorted by two Lebanese army aircraft as church bells rang across the country. A host of political and religious figures, including Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai, President Aoun and his wife Neemat, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam with their spouses, greeted the Holy Father at a reception tent on the tarmac. Each had the chance to meet with the Holy Father in the airport’s reception lounge. Following national anthems performed by a military band, the papal convoy proceeded to Baabda, passing roads lined with cheering Lebanese, particularly in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where scouts affiliated with Hezbollah had gathered.
Debke dancing, rice and flowers
Despite pouring rain, the pope arrived at the Baabda Presidential Palace in the popemobile, greeted by traditional debke dancers and horsemen, while the crowd showered the vehicle with rice and flowers. From the iconic white, glass-topped car, he watched a sound-and-light show projected onto the palace’s walls, featuring images symbolizing his visit, Lebanon and peace.
Inside the palace, the presidential couple and their grandchildren welcomed him with an olive branch and a bouquet of white roses. The pope met in turn with Aoun, Parliament Speaker Berri — who presented him with a history book — and Prime Minister Salam. Guests also enjoyed a musical interlude featuring a choir of children and blind and deaf adults performing a song by Fairuz.
The highly anticipated moment of this first day was the speech scheduled before the assembled crowd of ministers, members of parliament, and men of faith, during which the two leaders paid tribute to Lebanon as a land of diversity, reconciliation and resilience, each in their own way urging the Lebanese to remain in their country.
‘We will not die, we will not leave’
Aoun underscored Lebanon’s diversity and resilience. "It is with great joy that I welcome you, messenger of peace, to the homeland of peace," he said. "You are not visiting an ordinary country, but a land walked upon by sacred history," he added, recalling Lebanon’s mentions in the Bible and the saints who have walked its soil, including Saint Charbel.
He emphasized that the country was "born for and by freedom" and is "a unique homeland where Christians and Muslims live together, different but equal, in a constitutional system based on equality." "This is Lebanon’s uniqueness in the world. And this is its calling to the entire earth," he insisted, calling on "humanity to protect it, because if this model of free and equal living between the children of different religions were to fall, there would be no replacement anywhere else on earth."
"Today we affirm that Lebanon’s permanence is a condition for the advent of peace, hope, and reconciliation among all the children of Abraham," he continued. "Your Holiness, tell the world for us that we will not die, we will not leave, we will not despair, and we will not give up ... What Lebanon brings together, no other place on earth can contain. And what Lebanon unites, no one can divide."
Facing the ‘wounds of the past’ in order to heal
In his first remarks, Pope Leo XIV focused on the theme of his visit, "Blessed are the peacemakers." "What does it mean to be a peacemaker in times of conflict? It requires perseverance," he said. "You are a people who do not give up, who persevere. You have suffered from extremism and the clash of cultures, but you always rise again."
The pope stressed that peace is "not simply an abstraction, but a daily necessity, a desire, and a calling." He urged leaders to confront "the wounds of the past," whether personal or collective, referring to Lebanon’s 15-year Civil War (1975–1990). He called on officials to "put themselves at the service of the people" and to prioritize the common good, warning that disengagement from citizens — especially young people who continue to emigrate en masse — threatens the country’s future. While no official figures exist, estimates by Information International suggest 800,000 Lebanese left the country between 2012 and 2024, out of a current population of roughly 5.8 million, including over one million Syrian refugees.
Two-state solution and a wish to mediate
"The Church does not want anyone to be forced to leave their country," the pope said, calling for "guarantees of peace for young people" and recognizing "the special ability of women to build peace" in society.
After Baabda, he departed for the apostolic nunciature in Harissa, where he will stay during his visit.
Addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Pope Leo XIV reaffirmed that a two-state solution, including a Palestinian state, is "the only possible way." Speaking from the plane en route from Turkey, he added: "We all know that at the moment, Israel still does not accept this solution, but we see it as the only possible way ... We are also friends with Israel and seek to act as a mediator between both parties in order to help them find a fair solution for all," he added, in Italian.
This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.
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