Pope Leo XIV to Pray at Beirut Blast Site in First Foreign Trip
Vatican City — Pope Leo XIV will pray at the site of the 2020 port blast in Beirut that killed over 200 people during his first foreign trip as pope next month, the Vatican announced on October 7, 2025.
The trip will also take him to Turkey to mark an important anniversary with Orthodox Christians.
The Vatican released the itinerary for Leo's November 27-December 2 trip. The pontiff will visit Turkey from November 27-30 and Lebanon from November 30 to December 2, 2025.
The trip to Turkey will include a pilgrimage to Iznik to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, Christianity's first ecumenical council. The 325 A.D. Nicaea meeting predates the schisms that divided Christianity's East from West and is accepted by Catholic and Orthodox churches alike.
Leo's visit to the site of the August 4, 2020 Beirut port blast will come on the final day of his trip. The blast tore through the Lebanese capital after hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate detonated in a warehouse.
The gigantic explosion killed at least 218 people, according to an AP count, wounded more than 6,000 others and devastated large swaths of Beirut, causing billions of dollars in damages.
Lebanese citizens were enraged by the blast, which appeared to be the result of government negligence, coming on top of an economic crisis spurred by decades of corruption and financial crimes. An investigation into the causes of the blast repeatedly stalled, and five years on, no official has been convicted.
Pope Francis had planned to visit both countries but died earlier this year before he could. He had particularly long wanted to go to Lebanon, but the country's economic and political crisis prevented a visit during his lifetime.
Lebanon has six million people and has the largest ratio of Christians in the Middle East. It is the only Arab nation with a Christian head of state, President Joseph Aoun.
Pope Leo XIV described the Middle East as "a crossroads of wounds and hope" when speaking to reporters at Castel Gandolfo on October 7.
He stated: "It is a journey Pope Francis had long desired to make. For all Christians, it will be a moment of genuine unity in faith. We look back to the Council of Nicaea not to dwell on the past, but to look ahead—to what the Spirit is asking of us today."
Regarding Lebanon, Pope Leo noted: "Since the catastrophic port explosion in Beirut in 2020, the country has faced economic collapse and social despair."
While in Turkey, the pope is expected to meet Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the approximately 300 million Eastern Orthodox Christians.
THE CRUSADER'S OPINION
Pope Leo XIV choosing Lebanon and Turkey for his first foreign trip sends exactly the right message: Christians still matter in the Middle East, and the Church stands with them.
Lebanon's Christians are hanging by a thread. The 2020 Beirut blast killed over 200 people and devastated the country, but it was just one catastrophe piled on decades of corruption, economic collapse, and political paralysis. Five years later, nobody has been held accountable for the explosion. That's not governance. That's lawlessness.
Lebanon is the only Arab nation with a Christian president and the largest Christian population ratio in the Middle East. But those numbers are dropping fast as Christians flee persecution, economic disaster, and the constant threat of violence from Hezbollah and other Islamic militant groups. The Church cannot abandon them.
Pope Leo's decision to commemorate the Beirut victims and stand with Lebanese Christians is pastoral leadership. These believers need to know Rome hasn't forgotten them. They need to see that while Western governments prioritize oil deals and geopolitical chess games, the Church prioritizes souls.
The trip to Turkey for the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea is equally significant. That council defined Christianity's core beliefs about Christ's divinity and produced the Nicene Creed still recited in churches worldwide. Celebrating this anniversary with Patriarch Bartholomew emphasizes Christian unity across Catholic-Orthodox lines at a time when secularism and Islam threaten Christianity's historical heartland.
This is what papal diplomacy should look like: supporting persecuted Christians, promoting Christian unity, and bearing witness in places where faith costs something. Not empty platitudes about "dialogue" while Christians disappear from the lands where the Church was born.
Middle Eastern Christianity is facing extinction. Iran backs Hezbollah in Lebanon. Turkey converted Hagia Sophia back into a mosque. Islamic militants slaughter believers across the region. Christians need the Pope to be their champion, not just their chaplain.
Pope Leo XIV is starting his papacy by showing up where Christians suffer. That matters. Actions speak louder than encyclicals.
TAKE ACTION
Support Middle Eastern Christians:
- Aid to the Church in Need - Direct aid to Lebanese Christians
Website: https://www.churchinneed.org/donate
Phone: 1-800-628-6333 - Catholic Near East Welfare Association - Supporting Christians in Lebanon and Middle East
Website: https://www.cnewa.org/donate
Phone: 1-800-442-6392 - Open Doors USA - Helping persecuted Christians in Middle East
Website: https://www.opendoorsusa.org/donate
Phone: 1-888-524-2535 - International Christian Concern - Advocacy for Middle Eastern Christians
Website: https://www.persecution.org/donate
Phone: 1-800-422-5441
