Pope Leo XIV hails interfaith tolerance in Lebanon
發佈日期: 2025-12-02 21:34
TVB News
Pope Leo XIV celebrated Lebanon's tradition of interfaith coexistence as a beacon of hope for a conflict-torn region, as he asked for the divine gift of peace alongside the country's Christian and Muslim religious leaders.
Leo is near the end of his first overseas trip as pope, a visit to Turkey and Lebanon, ancient biblical lands where he has championed the advancement of Christian and wider religious unity, and the cause of peace.
Pope Leo XIV received a sincere welcome from the crowds and from its spiritual leaders on his first full day in Lebanon.
Leo opened his day by praying at the tomb of St. Charbel Makhlouf, a Lebanese saint revered by many Christians and Muslims.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, Christian and Muslim, visit the tomb at the hilltop monastery of St. Maroun overlooking the sea at Annaya, around 40 kilometres from Beirut.
The Pope later attended an interfaith meeting in Martyr's Square in Beirut.
Lebanon's Christian patriarchs and Sunni, Shia and Druze spiritual leaders gathered under a tent.
After listening to hymns and readings from the Bible and Quran, Leo praised Lebanon's tradition of religious tolerance as a beacon for "the divine gift of peace" in the region.
At the end of the event, the spiritual leaders planted an olive sapling as a symbol of peace.
Leo ended the day at a jubilant rally of Lebanese youth at Bkerki, the seat of the Maronite Church, where he sought to encourage them to persevere and not leave the country as many others have done.
"Lebanon's history is interwoven with glorious moments, but it is also marked by deep wounds that are slow to heal," said the pope. "These wounds have causes that transcend national borders and are intertwined with very complex social and political dynamics.
"Dear young people, perhaps you regret inheriting a world torn apart by wars and disfigured by social injustice. Yet there is hope and there is hope within you. You have a gift that many times we adults seem to have lost. You have hope! You have time. You have more time to dream, to plan and to do good. You are the present, and the future is already taking shape in your hands. You have the enthusiasm to change the course of history."
Leo's visit comes at a newly tenuous time for the small Mediterranean country after years of conflict, economic crises and political deadlock, punctuated by the deadly 2020 Beirut port blast.
Amid the conflict in Gaza and worsening political tensions in Lebanon, Leo's visit has been welcomed by the Lebanese as a sign of hope.
Christians make up around a third of Lebanon's 5 million people, giving the nation on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean the largest percentage of Christians in the Middle East.
While Lebanon is now often cited as a model of religious coexistence, it hasn't always been that way.
The country's civil war from 1975 to 1990 was largely fought along sectarian lines.
