President Aoun and the First Lady, Speaker of the Parliament Berri and Prime Minister Salam with their wives, and Patriarch Al-Rai greeted him on the tarmac, accompanied by a 21-gun salute.

The papal plane entered Lebanese airspace escorted by a Lebanese Air Force squadron, as crowds lined the road to Baabda Palace waving Lebanese and Vatican flags.

His Holiness the Pope Leo XIV and the delegation accompanying him has arrived to Rafic Hariri International Airport at 3:45 this afternoon. At the aircraft door, he was welcomed by Dr. Nabil Chedid, Director General of Protocol at the Presidency of the Republic, and by Papal Nuncio Paolo Borgia. Borgia accompanied him to the tarmac, where President Joseph Aoun and First Lady Naamat Aoun greeted him by the stairs. After exchanging greetings with the President and First Lady, the Pope shook hands with Speaker of Parliement Nabih Berri and his wife Randa, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and his wife Sahar, and Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rai.    
 
Two children who survived cancer from the CCCL Center gave the Pope a bouquet of flowers and a tray with soil from southern Lebanon, bread from Mount Lebanon, and salt from the north.

After that, the Pope, the President, and the First Lady went to the main platform, where the Pope greeted Patriarch Joseph I Absi of the Melkite Greek Catholics, Patriarch Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian of the Armenian Catholics, and Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Younan of the Syriac Catholics.

And after playing the Vatican and Lebanese anthems and holding official ceremonies, the Pope shook hands with the Lebanese delegation welcoming him which included: Lebanese Ambassador to the Vatican, Fadi Assaf, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, Elias Bou Saab, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Youssef Rajji, the members of the Parliament’s Bureau Alain Aoun, Hadi Aboul Hessen, Hagop Pakradounian, Michel Moussa, Abdel Karim Muhammad Kabbara, the Governor of Mount Lebanon, Mohammad Makkawi, and Army Commander General Rodolphe Haykal.

President Aoun then greeted the Vatican delegation accompanying the Pope, which included: Cardinal Kurt Koch, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity; Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches; Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad, Prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue; Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, Substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State; Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations for the Holy See; Archbishop Diego Ravelli, Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations; Archbishop Paolo Borgia, Papal Nuncio to Lebanon; Father Jakub Tomaszewski, Secretary of the Apostolic Nunciature; Msgr Ljubomir Welnitz, Director of Protocol; Msgr Massimiliano Matteo Boiardi, Director of Protocol; Msgr Giuseppe Merola, Secretariat of State (Italian section); Msgr Paul Moss, Secretariat of State (English section); Msgr Guillaume Meunier, Secretariat of State (French section); Dr. Paolo Ruffini, Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication; Dr. Matteo Bruni, Director of the Holy See Press Office; Dr. Andrea Tornielli, Editorial Director of the Dicastery for Communication; and Dr. Andrea Monda, Director of L’Osservatore Romano.

After a short break in the presidential hall of the airport, Pope Leo XIV’s delegation set off to the Presidential Palace. The roads were decorated with the flags of Lebanon and the Vatican, and many Lebanese men and women lined the road leading to the palace, welcoming His Holiness to Lebanon.

When His Holiness the Pope's plane entered Lebanese airspace, it was accompanied by a squadron from the Lebanese Air Force. The Lebanese Navy ships sounded their horns, and artillery fired 21 shots when his plane arrived at the airport. A number of Lebanese men and women attended, carrying Lebanese and Vatican flags, to welcome the distinguished guest. The main hall at the airport was decorated with white narcissus, which symbolizes hope and renewal, and the smell of incense spread throughout the hall.