Pope Leo XIV has prayed at the site of the deadly 2020 Beirut port explosion and offered words of consolation to the Lebanese people on the final day of his first overseas trip.
Relatives of some of the 218 people killed in the blast five years ago held up photographs of loved ones as Pope Leo arrived on Tuesday at the scorched site. They then stood side by side as he spoke to each one and looked at the images.
The emotional encounter took place beside the shell of the last grain silo standing at the site destroyed by the August 4 blast, and amid piles of burned cars left charred in its wake.
The explosion caused billions of dollars’ worth of damage when hundreds of tonnes of ammonium nitrate detonated in a warehouse.
Five years on, families are still seeking justice. No official has been convicted in the judicial investigation, angering Lebanese citizens who see the blast as further evidence of impunity after decades of corruption and financial crimes.
When he arrived in Lebanon on Sunday, Pope Leo had urged the country’s political leaders to pursue the truth as a means of achieving peace and reconciliation.
The United States-born pontiff opened his final day in Lebanon with an emotional visit to the De La Croix Hospital, which specialises in caring for people with psychological conditions.
The Mother Superior of the congregation that runs the hospital, Mother Marie Makhlouf, was overcome as she welcomed the pope, telling him that her hospital cares for the “forgotten souls, burdened by their loneliness”.
Pope Leo said the facility stands as a reminder to all of humanity.
“We cannot forget those who are most fragile,” he said. “We cannot conceive of a society that races ahead at full speed, clinging to the false myths of wellbeing, while at the same time ignoring so many situations of poverty and vulnerability.”
He was scheduled to end his visit with a Mass at another location along the Beirut waterfront, where he moved through the crowd in his covered popemobile.
Pope Leo has sought to bring a message of peace to Lebanon as it grapples with economic crises, the aftermath of Hezbollah’s devastating war with Israel, and the lasting effect of the port explosion.