Your Holiness Pope Leo XIV,

With great joy, I welcome you – messenger of peace to the land of peace.

With profound honor, and in the name of the Lebanese people in all their confessions and sects, I welcome you to our homeland, small in its size, yet great in its message; Lebanon which has always been – and remains – a land that unites faith and freedom, diversity and unity, and hardship and hope.

Your Holiness,

You are not visiting an ordinary country but a country graced by the footsteps of sacred history. Lebanon is mentioned repeatedly in the Holy Scriptures, as a symbol of elevation, steadfastness, and sanctity. The Song of Songs invoked its mountains and forests as emblems of beauty, majesty, and purity—making this land a witness to God’s greatness in creation and a testament to sacred history.

With profound honor, I welcome you Your Holiness, to the land of the Canaanite woman who sought healing for her daughter, and to whom Jesus said: “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.”

Our people, Holy Father, embody this Canaanite woman today. Our faith is deep, and our hope is for the healing of souls, hearts, and minds from hatred, war, and destruction.

Welcome Your Holiness, to the land protected by the Virgin Mary and dedicated to her name from the far South to the far North. And in between stands “Our Lady of Mantara” near Sidon, where the Virgin Mary waited for her Son, Jesus.

Lebanon’s devotion to the Virgin Mary is so deep, that we have made the Annunciation Day a national holiday celebrated by all confessions of the country, an observance unmatched anywhere else in the world.

Welcome to the land where the water of the Hasbani river flows into the Jordan river where Jesus was baptized.
Lebanon is not merely a historic land; it is the home of great Saints – amongst whom is Saint Charbel whose Holy Shrine You will be visiting. God endowed him with many graces and his miracles reached far beyond our borders, extending to all humanity without distinction in faith or religion – revealing the unity of the Lebanese people and the depth of their faith.

This is the Lebanon that welcomes you today, Your Holiness. 

Lebanon that was conceived in freedom and for freedom, not for one religion, sect, or group. The land of freedom for every human being and of dignity for every human being. 

A nation unique in its regime, where Christians and Muslims are different in beliefs but equal in rights, under a Constitution founded on equality between Christians and Muslims, and on openness to every person and every free conscience.

This is Lebanon’s uniqueness, and this is its call to the world.

Therefore, it is a fundamental human duty to safeguard and preserve Lebanon, for if this model of equal and free coexistence between people of different faiths fails, nowhere else can this model be replicated.

This was the message I delivered at the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York, and I reiterate here in Beirut today:
If the Christian presence disappears in Lebanon, the equation of the nation will collapse, and its justice will fall.
If the Muslim presence disappears in Lebanon, the equation of the nation will be disrupted, and its balance will be disrupted.

And if Lebanon is disabled or altered, the alternative will inevitably be new fault lines across our region and the world—between all forms of extremism: ideological, materialistic, and even violent.

This is what the Holy See has always known, and this is why, Pope Paul VI raised his voice early on, in defense of Lebanon’s unity and sovereignty.

And Saint John Paul II immortalized Lebanon in the world’s collective memory with his historic statement: ”Lebanon is more than a country; it is a message of coexistence, pluralism and freedom for East and West” before dedicating – in an exceptional precedent – a General Synod especially to Lebanon. And He affirmed forty years ago that the presence of free Christianity in Lebanon is a condition for its continued existence and prosperity throughout our region.

Today, we affirm to you, Your Holiness, that the survival of this Lebanon—whose people surround you now—is essential for the establishment of peace, hope, and reconciliation among all the sons of Abraham.

Similarly, Pope Benedict XVI, messenger of love and wisdom, declared from Beirut that the future of the Middle East can be built only upon partnership, diversity, and mutual respect, and in a very symbolic gesture, announced from Lebanon, the Apostolic Exhortation for the Middle East.

And now we welcome you, Your Holiness—the fourth successor of Saint Peter to visit our homeland— a visit no less eloquent in message and significance, as you have honored Lebanon by choosing it as your first papal visit outside Rome. You came directly from Nicaea, from the land of the Nicene Creed on its 1700th anniversary, to renew your faith in us and to renew together our faith in Humanity.

You come to the land of churches you described as “martyr churches”, to sow hope so we can witness the resurrection.
You come to us, Your Holiness, and in your radiant face we read your wonderful words of your latest Apostolic Exhortation, “I Have Loved You,” that touching the wounds of the oppressed, is like touching the wounds of Christ himself.And in our land today, as in our region, there is much oppression, and many oppressed people. Their wounds await your blessed touch and yearn to hear your great and courageous voice.

Your Holiness, we implore you:

Tell the world that we shall not die, nor leave, nor despair, nor surrender. We shall remain here—breathing freedom, inventing joy, practicing love, embracing innovation, striving for modernity, and creating each day a fuller life.

Tell the world that we shall remain the only place in our region and almost in the whole world, where such a community can rally behind the successor of Saint Peter, representing in harmony all the children of Abraham, with all their convictions, their sacred values and their common beliefs.

For what Lebanon brings together, no place on earth can contain; and what Lebanon unites, no one can divide. Only by this equation Lebanon lives in peace with its region, and its region lives in peace with the world.

Until the parties concerned hear us and become convinced, fear shall not find its way to our hearts, for through your prayers and blessings, and through our firm belief in our rights and our homeland, we remain here— children of hope, children of the Resurrection.

We remain here: light of the East, its beacon, the salt of its earth.

We remain here, messengers of love and of goodness.

From the beginning till the end of time, we remain the disciples of the One who told us not to fear, but to trust in Him—for by His love and His peace He has overcome the world.

And we bear witness to this and work to achieve it.

Long live love

Long live peace

Long live His Holiness

Long live Lebanon