With the three-day visit to Beirut, Lebanon, Pope Leo XIV concluded his first international visit since assuming the papacy. This was the first visit by a Pope to Lebanon since 2012. Reportedly, 150,000 people congregated at Beirut's waterfront on Tuesday to attend mass with the Pope and prayed for peace. Although the Pope’s trip began in Türkiye, the Beirut leg drew far more attention because of Lebanon’s tense political and religious climate. The visit served both as a symbolic push for national unity and as a stage for competing political messages.
The significance of Pope’s visit mainly lies in its timing. Lebanon has seen the resurfacing of sectarian tensions in the wake of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict. According to the CIA Factbook, Christians (Maronite denomination) currently make up roughly 32.4 per cent of Lebanon’s population, which is higher than in any other country in the Middle East, where Christian communities exist. The Muslim population in Lebanon is roughly around 67.8 per cent, of which 31.9 per cent are Sunni and 31.2 per cent are Shia.
The Israel-Hezbollah conflict reignited sectarian tensions in Lebanon after the fighting displaced hundreds of thousands of people from mainly Shia areas like Dahieh, south Lebanon, and the Bekaa Valley into predominantly Sunni and Christian neighbourhoods in Beirut. In places like the Christian district of Achrafieh, residents worried that displaced families might include Hezbollah members and become targets, leading some buildings to request identity details and even distribute leaflets urging suspected members to leave. Tensions also arose in mixed areas like Hamra, where building owners expressed fears that the new arrivals, who were predominantly Shias and followed strict religious rules, would refuse to leave their accommodation.
In addition to these, there has been a mass displacement of several Christian villages in Southern Lebanon due to security concerns. The latest Religious Freedom Report released in October by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) paints a further troubling picture of Lebanon’s rapidly weakening religious landscape. Covering developments through 2023 and 2024, with additional updates from early 2025, the report warns that the country’s long-standing commitment to pluralism is facing unprecedented strain.
Against this backdrop of communal fears, Pope Leo XIV’s visit came across as a carefully planned mission of unity. This was especially clear during the interfaith gathering at Martyrs’ Square, where he stood alongside the Syriac Catholic and Maronite patriarchs, the Grand Sunni imam, and a Shia representative. The display itself broke through Lebanon’s deeply rooted sectarian divisions. The event was structured to highlight coexistence, beginning with a reading from the Gospel, followed by a recitation from the Quran.
The choice of venue also carried the symbolic weight. Martyrs’ Square, often called Beirut’s emotional heart, commemorates Lebanese and Arab nationalists executed by the Ottomans in 1916, and has long been a place where people rally together in moments of national importance. Over the years, it has become a space where people come together in moments of national urgency, whether during the 2005 Cedar Revolution after the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri, the widespread anti-corruption protests of 2019, or the huge demonstrations after the devastating Beirut port explosion in 2020. As such, Martyrs’ Square has been the place where ordinary citizens have rejected sectarian politics and demanded real change.
Another striking scene during the Pope’s visit to Beirut was the presence of the Hezbollah-run Imam Mahdi Scouts, who gathered to welcome him. Supporters of the group held up portraits of Pope Leo alongside images of their late secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah. This strongly suggests an effort to clean and soften the group's public image. Given that Hezbollah has historically been condemned for its oppressive actions and the resulting plight of Christians in South Lebanon, this warm and highly publicised welcome serves as a strategic attempt at image rehabilitation. By publicly showing respect for the head of the Catholic Church, the group seeks to present itself as supportive of interfaith coexistence, national unity, and political legitimacy, in an effort to push back against accusations of sectarian hostility. In a statement before Pope’s arrival, Hezbollah denounced Israeli actions in Gaza and Lebanon, urging the Pope to "reject the injustice inflicted on our homeland."
Although Pope Leo XIV spoke passionately about “peace” before his departure, that hope feels painfully distant at the moment. Israeli airstrikes against suspected Hezbollah positions in Lebanon appear increasingly imminent, especially as Hezbollah continues to refuse disarmament, one of the key conditions of the ceasefire reached in November last year. In recent days, US Envoy Tom Barrack has warned Iraqi armed factions to stay out of the escalating confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah. His firm message comes amid the fallout from the assassination of Haytham Tabatabai, Hezbollah’s chief of staff, on 23 November. In response, Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Naim Qassem vowed that retaliation is unavoidable. Whatever happens next, one thing that is tragically guaranteed is that more innocent lives will be caught in the crossfire.
Mohammed Shoaib Raza is a doctoral candidate at the Centre for West Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.