Pastors in Lebanon hope papal visit will give boost to Christians’ civil rights – Crux

    
       
    
A group of nuns hold flags while waiting for the arrival of Pope Leo XVI to a meeting with bishops, clergy, religious and pastoral workers in Lebanon at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa, Dec. 1, 2025. (Credit: Vatican Media.)
BEIRUT – Pastors and religious in Lebanon voiced hope that Pope Leo’s visit to the country would give a boost to the national and regional peace process, and that his presence would help guarantee Christians in the area their civil rights.
Speaking to Crux ahead of the pope’s Dec. 1 meeting with the bishops, clergy, and religious in Lebanon, Patriarch Youssef III Younan of Antioch, Syriac Catholic Patriarch said the pope’s visit is a source of hope for local Christians.
“This visit of the Holy Father Pope Leo XIV is very significant for us in Lebanon as well as for the Near East, where Christians are dwindling in numbers. It’s very sad to say, but it’s the truth,” he said.
Younan said Christians in the Middle East are tired of hearing promises from national and regional leaders to “stay hopeful and stay in your own land.”
“We need the real support of those in the international scene to help those who are discriminated, who need civil rights in their own countries,” he said.
He asked the international community, specifically the United States and the European Union, to remember “that we Christians in Lebanon and the Near East, we are not a migrated people, or refugees, or coming for work in our own countries.”
“We are there, the remnants of those who have been there for millennia,” he said, saying, “we need the support of all. Those who tell us, what do you need? We tell them, ‘we need to support civil rights in our own countries.’”
Younan pointed to the pope’s remarks to journalists en route from Istanbul to Beirut Sunday in which he said he spoke to Turkish President Recep Erdogan about the peace process globally, specifically in Ukraine, and the role that Turkey can play as a mediator between parties.
Pope Leo, he said, “is right to ask those who are concerned and who are responsible, especially in our countries, to respect the civil rights of all, majority or minorities, reminding all those responsible, especially those who rule the countries, that we need acts, not only words.”
“We need effective actions, not only promises,” he said, saying Christians “are in our own land, and we have to be respected in our civil rights. This is the way to talk and to encourage those who are responsible to be the peacemakers in our countries.”
He voiced hope that the papal visit to Lebanon would have a positive impact in this regard, saying, he is anxious for everyone, but mostly those with political responsibility, to understand that “Lebanon is a kind of message, a true message to all.”
“We have 18 religious and confessional denominations. It is the example not only to the Near East, but also to the whole world, that we can live together as true brothers and sisters in humanity,” Younan said.
After meeting with Lebanese bishops, clergy and religious, Pope Leo had a private meeting with the four Catholic patriarchs of Lebanon: Younan, the Armenian Catholic of Cilicia, Raphael Bedros Minassian; Maronite Catholic Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, and the Melkite Patriarch Yosef Absi.
They were joined by Louis Raphael Sako, the Chaldean Patriarch of Baghdad; Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and the Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria of the Copts, Ibraham Isaac Sidrak.
Together, these patriarchs form the Council of the Catholic Patriarchs of the East, which is headquartered in Lebanon.
One topic they discussed was setting a common date for Easter for the Catholic and Orthodox churches, which currently observe different liturgical calendars. This year, which coincided with the Jubilee for Hope, the dates for Easter coincided.
Following their conversation, the pope and Catholic patriarchs were then joined for a private lunch by three non-Catholic patriarchs: Aram I, Catholicos Di Cilicia of the Armenians; Ignatius Aphrem II, Syro-Orthodox of Antioch, and John X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch.
Speaking to Crux, Sister Anne Marie Gangois, a Canadian nun who has worked at a hospital in Aleppo, Syria, for 26 years, traveled to Beirut to participate in the events of the papal trip.  
“I’ve seen the war, also the earthquake, everything. There is lot of suffering,” she said, voicing hope that the pope’s visit would bring, “Peace, peace, peace, for the whole region.”
“We hope, we hope, we hope. A lot of people from Aleppo ask the pope to come to Syria. We hope he’ll come,” she said.
Father Charbel Fayad, Capuchin friar living in Lebanon, said that for him personally, the pope’s visit to Beirut “will bring us hope in time of war, in time of trouble.”
“The visit of the pope will bring us hope, but also charity, it will bring us peace. We need peace in this area,” he said, saying the pope will also encourage local Christians “to live our faith at this time, to be linked to Christ, to faith, to peace. This is what we hope for.”
Christians in Lebanon can live their faith freely, he said, though that is not the case in many parts of the Middle East, where Christians tend to be a minority and often face discrimination and even violent persecution.
Referring to Pope Leo’s call for national civil authorities to put the pursuit of peace above all else, Fayad said everyone is hoping for “Reconciliation, peace, the healing of memory.”
“I think not just authorities, but also people must live in peace, also the people must take this speech like a program for our lives,” he said, voicing his belief that the papal visit will have an impact.
Apart from the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, there is no war in Lebanon, “but there is not a good peace,” he said, voicing hope that “the visit of the pope will bring us reconciliation, healing. We also need reconciliation, healing of memory, that is important.”
Bishop Aldo Berardi of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia, who was invited by the Maronite patriarchate to attend the papal events in Lebanon, said it was “a joy” to be present for the pope’s visit.
“For Lebanon, it is a source of hope, unity. I think that among all of the leaders, governors of the world, the pope is the only one who can speak and say key things, say the truth in sincerity,” he said.
The visit is important because “this land is divided, it suffers politically and economically. So, this visit will help a lot in terms of unity and giving back to the Lebanese a hope for the future,” he said.
Bernardi said Pope Leo is seen as “a man of peace, and this is what the area needs, and reconciliation.”
Wounds in Lebanon run deep, with lingering tensions following the country’s civil war and ongoing political and economic turmoil, he said, noting that the Lebanese are trying to rebuild their country and the papal visit can provide motivation.
“Lebanon has passed through many conflicts and many problems, but it has always come out, and this is a way of having hope come again and rebuilding the country,” Bernardi said, saying the Lebanese, including the diaspora throughout the world, want their country to become again “a light in the world.”
He also voiced his belief that the pope’s presence in Lebanon can help give Christians hope and a motivation to stay.
“If here are no possibilities of a secure life or of work, it’s easier to go, to leave a neglected country. So, of course for the Lebanese, the Palestinians, and others, they must remain, but the church must help with this and make it so that this is possible,” he said.
Follow Elise Ann Allen on X: @eliseannallen
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