Pope Leo takes peace message to Lebanon, target of Israeli strikes

BEIRUT, Nov 30 - Pope Leo arrived in Lebanon on Sunday, where he is expected to appeal for peace in a country that is a continued target of Israeli air strikes, on the second and final leg of his first overseas trip as leader of the Catholic Church.

The first U.S. pope flew from Turkey, where he has been visiting for four days, and warned that humanity's future was at risk because of the world's unusual number of bloody conflicts and condemned violence in the name of religion.

Hours before Leo's arrival, crowds gathered along the roads from the airport to the presidential palace, waving Lebanese and Vatican flags. He will meet the president and prime minister and make an address, only his second to a foreign government. 

Lebanon, which has the largest share of Christians in the Middle East, has been rocked by the spillover of the Gaza conflict, as Israel and the Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim militant group Hezbollah went to war, culminating in a devastating Israeli offensive.

"We want him to plant peace in the hearts of politicians so that we can live a comfortable life in Lebanon," said Randa Sahyoun, a Lebanese woman living in Qatar who travelled home for the pope's visit.

Leaders in Lebanon, which hosts 1 million Syrian and Palestinian refugees and is also struggling to recover from years of economic crisis, are worried Israel will dramatically escalate its strikes in coming months.

Israel says its continued strikes since last year's ceasefire agreement are to prevent Hezbollah from re-establishing military capabilities and posing a renewed threat to communities in northern Israel.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said on Friday that he hoped Leo's visit would help bring an end to Israeli attacks.

Lebanon's diverse communities have also welcomed the papal trip, with leading Druze cleric Sheikh Sami Abi al-Muna saying Lebanon "needs the glimmer of hope represented by this visit".

Reinforcements from the Lebanese army and internal security forces deployed to the airport before Leo's arrival and his drive to the presidential palace through Beirut's southern suburbs, an area where Hezbollah holds sway.

He was driven in the enclosed popemobile, arriving at the palace in heavy rain with crowds under white umbrellas cheering and a welcome band performing a traditional dance while beating large drums.

POPE VISITING FIVE LEBANESE CITIES AND TOWNS

Leo, a relative unknown on the world stage before becoming pope in May, is being closely watched as he makes his first speeches overseas and interacts for the first time with people outside mainly Catholic Italy.    

On Saturday, Leo visited Istanbul's famed Blue Mosque, in his first visit as pope to a Muslim place of worship. He removed his shoes in a sign of respect but did not pray at the mosque as planned, which appeared to surprise Vatican officials.

The pope attended an Orthodox Christian liturgy on Sunday morning led by Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual leader of the world's 260 million Orthodox Christians.

In remarks during the service, which was filled with Greek chants, Bartholomew said the world "expects a unified message of hope from Christians unequivocally condemning war and violence".

"We cannot be complicit in the bloodshed taking place in Ukraine and other parts of the world," said the patriarch.

Leo, 70 and in good health, has a crowded itinerary in Lebanon, visiting five cities and towns from Sunday to Tuesday, when he returns to Rome. Leo will not travel to the south, the target of Israeli strikes.

His schedule includes a prayer at the site of a 2020 chemical explosion at the Beirut port that killed 200 people and caused damage worth billions. 

He will also lead an outdoor Mass on the Beirut waterfront and visit a psychiatric hospital, one of the few mental health facilities in Lebanon, where carers and residents are eagerly anticipating his arrival. REUTERS