By Valerie Schmalz
On his first trip out of Italy as pontiff, Pope Leo XIV is traveling first to Turkey where he will meet with the leader of the Greek Orthodox Church, and then to Lebanon, a country where the Maronite Catholic church was founded around the fifth century.
Lebanon is devastated by five decades of war and continues to be a battleground as Hezbollah terrorists use their position in southern Lebanon to attack Israel, Reuters and other news agencies report.
Both the Turkey and the Lebanon legs of the journey will include interfaith meetings and prayer as well as meetings with the government leaders of the two countries.
This was a dream of Pope Francis, who could not fulfill it, and now Pope Leo is going, said Father Rami Razzouk, pastor of Our Lady of Lebanon, a thriving Maronite Catholic parish based in a small church on El Camino Real in San Mateo.
“Now the dream is happening with Pope Leo. Not only the dream of Pope Francis but the dream of the Lebanese people,” Father Razzouk said.
The pope’s motto for his Apostolic Journey to Lebanon, is “Blessed are the peacemakers,” noted Father Razzouk. “This summarizes why the pope is coming. There is no peace, yet. There is hope that this visit will bring this long-awaited peace.”
“What is special about this country?” asked Father Razzouk and then quoted Pope St. John Paul who visited Lebanon in 1997: “Lebanon is more than a country; Lebanon is a mission.”
“In Lebanon,” said the Maronite priest, “you have Muslims, you have Christians…living together; togetherness despite differences.”
Pope Leo’s trip will begin with three days (Nov. 27-30) in Turkey, with a visit to the town now known as Iznik, site of the Council of Nicaea. The visit will include meetings with Turky’s president, ecumenical prayers, and the signing of a joint declaration by Pope Leo and Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I.
For Lebanese Christians in particular, Pope Leo’s visit to their country brings hope for a people whose country has been wracked by violence for at least five decades: the destructive civil war of 1975-1990, the devastating 2019 banking crisis, the port explosion of 2020, and the continuing war between the terrorist Shiite Muslim organization Hezbollah and Israel in southern Lebanon. After the Israeli pager attack on Hezbollah leaders in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, as well as the U.S. bombing of Iran’s nuclear facility and the regime change in Syria, the Hezbollah terrorist organization is much weakened. Nevertheless, it still exercises significant power within the government and the country, waging a war that the rest of Lebanon doesn’t want, observers say.
The ongoing battles, primarily in southern Lebanon, have killed at least 4,000 people, with “many villages wiped out totally,” Father Razzouk said.
“Who came to the south of Lebanon? Who passed by Sidon and Tyre? Jesus himself. So, we are talking about the land that witnessed the coming of the Lord and now it is destroyed,” Father Razzouk said.
At the same time, Lebanon remains the only country in the Middle East where Christians are constitutionally guaranteed religious liberty and a place in the government. The constitution, instituted in 1926 under the French mandate and amended in 1943, requires the president to be a Maronite Christian, the prime minister to be a Sunni Muslim and the speaker of the Parliament to be a Shiite Muslim.
Very significant will be Pope Leo’s visit to the shrine of St. Charbel, and to the shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon, Father Razzouk said, as well as to the hospital where the Franciscan Sisters of the Holy Cross care for the mentally disabled. St. Charbel’s hermitage is visited by Muslims, Druze, and Christians, Father Razzouk said, and the Maronite mystic’s healing presence is felt as soon as one enters the shrine. These visits by Pope Leo highlight the central place of prayer and charity for peace and unity, the Maronite priest said.
“For Pope Leo to pick Lebanon—Lebanon is a microcosm of what is happening in all the world,” Father Razzouk said. “Despite our differences, religiously speaking, we should be united. I believe this visit is a sign of unity. What we need to bring peace is unity.”
Links with more information:
Maronite Church: https://cnewa.org/eastern-christian-churches/the-catholic-eastern-churches/churches-with-no-orthodox-counterpart/the-maronite-catholic-church/
Pope’s schedule: https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-10/schedule-for-pope-leo-s-first-international-journey.html
Pillar Catholic: https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/in-lebanon-a-tired-church-expects
OSV News: Lebanon eagerly awaits pope’s visit as ‘pilgrim of peace’
Economic crisis: https://www.reuters.com/markets/rates-bonds/lebanons-financial-crisis-how-it-happened-2022-01-23/
Cardinal on Christian flight: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/264781/lebanese-cardinal-urges-christians-not-to-leave-middle-east
Maronite Cardinal visit to Southern Lebanon: https://en.abouna.org/content/cardinal-mar-bechara-al-rai-pays-pastoral-visit-southern-lebanon
