Pope Leo XIV concluded his first trip abroad Tuesday with a somber visit to the site of Beirut’s 2020 port explosion, praying beside grieving families and calling for an end to impunity five years after the disaster that claimed 218 lives.
The American pope stood in silence at the scarred waterfront as relatives held photographs of victims killed when hundreds of tons of improperly stored ammonium nitrate detonated on August 4, 2020. The blast, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions ever recorded, caused billions of dollars in damage and came to symbolize Lebanon’s chronic corruption and political paralysis.
“The visit clearly sends the message that the explosion was a crime,” said Cecile Roukoz, whose brother Joseph was among those killed, the Associated Press reported. “There should be a message, the country should end impunity and ensure justice is served.”
No official has been convicted, and the judicial investigation has been repeatedly blocked.
Mireille Khoury, who lost her 15-year-old son Elias, pointed toward the ruined building where he died, just across from the port.
“Justice is the basis of building any country,” she said, per AP. “Our children were killed in their homes.”
Earlier Tuesday, the pontiff visited De La Croix psychiatric hospital, where he was greeted by children dressed as Swiss Guards and cardinals.
“We cannot forget those who are most fragile,” Leo told staff, stressing the need to care for society’s most vulnerable.
Mother Marie Makhlouf, the hospital’s mother superior, welcomed him with tears, describing the patients as “forgotten souls, burdened by their loneliness,” per AP.
Some 150,000 people later filled Beirut’s waterfront for the pope’s final Mass.
“Lebanon, stand up! Be a home of justice and fraternity! Be a prophetic sign of peace for the whole of the Levant!” he declared in his homily.
In farewell remarks at Beirut’s airport, Leo urged an end to violence in the country’s south, where Israeli airstrikes continue against Hezbollah targets.
“May the attacks and hostilities cease,” he said, according to AP. “We must recognize that armed struggle brings no benefit.”
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun asked the pope to continue praying for Lebanon, calling its people “a faithful people who deserve life.”
Minutes after the papal plane took off, an Israeli drone flew over the capital, a stark reminder of the crises that still grip the nation.