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Pope wraps up Turkey visit and heads to Beirut to try to give Lebanese hope after years of crises
Pope Leo XIV urges Lebanese Christians to stay amid crises, highlighting hope and peace while addressing the impact of the 2020 Beirut blast and ongoing regional conflicts.
- On Sunday, November 30, 2025, Pope Leo XIV wrapped up a four-day trip to Turkey and is expected to leave Istanbul at 1145 GMT to fly to Beirut for a visit until Tuesday.
- After 2019's financial collapse and the 2020 blast, Lebanon faced currency and banking collapse that evaporated savings and drove shortages of electricity, fuel and medicine.
- Leading liturgies and ceremonies, Pope Leo XIV prayed at the Armenian Apostolic Cathedral, celebrated a divine liturgy with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, and they signed a joint declaration pledging `new and courageous steps on the path towards unity`.
- Pope Leo XIV aims to encourage Lebanese Christians to stay or return and will meet young Lebanese before praying at the Aug. 4, 2020 blast site on Dec. 2.
- As a first major test for the new pope, the trip highlights Lebanon, population 5.8 million, where shrinking Christian communities and Hezbollah's political ties intensify tensions.
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134 Articles
134 Articles
Leo XIV arrived in Lebanon.
·Bratislava, Slovakia
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The 70-year-old pope is expected to meet with President Joseph Aoun and deliver a speech at the end of the afternoon before the authorities and the diplomatic corps at the presidential palace.
·Paris, France
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Total News Sources134
Leaning Left34Leaning Right17Center40Last UpdatedBias Distribution44% Center
Bias Distribution
- 44% of the sources are Center
44% Center
L 37%
C 44%
R 19%
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