Pope Leo XIV Prays at Beirut Blast Site, Calls for Justice as He Ends First Overseas Trip

Relatives of some of the 218 people killed in the 2020 Beirut port explosion stood side by side on Tuesday, holding up photographs of their dead, as Pope Leo XIV arrived at the scorched site. He prayed silently at a monument to the victims, then greeted each family member in turn, taking their hands. It was the final day of his first overseas trip as pope.

The meeting took place beside the shell of the last grain silo still standing and piles of cars burned in the aftermath. The blast of Aug. 4, 2020, was caused by hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate detonating in a port warehouse, and it did billions of dollars in damage. Five years on, no official has been convicted. The judicial investigation has been repeatedly obstructed, and many Lebanese see the blast as the latest evidence of impunity after decades of corruption and financial crimes.

Cecile Roukoz, whose brother Joseph was killed, was there to meet the pope. She said the visit clearly sends the message that the explosion was a crime, and that the country should end impunity and ensure justice is served.

Among those welcoming Leo was Social Affairs Minister Haneen Sayed, whose mother died in the blast. So was Mireille Khoury, whose 15-year-old son, Elias, was killed in his room in a building across from the port. When the pope approached, she pointed out that building to him. Khoury has been among relatives urging that the stalled investigation be finalized; it implicated a long list of political, security and judicial officials, many of whom have largely refused to cooperate. In an interview before the visit, she said justice is the basis of building any country, and that the children were killed in their homes because someone stored nitrate in the city's main port near a residential area. She said the pope's prayer might ease some of her anger, but she would not give up her pursuit of justice.

Leo went from the site directly to his final Mass, attended by an estimated 150,000 people on the Beirut waterfront. In his homily he named the troubles the Lebanese have faced, from economic crises to the blast to renewed fears of war, and said it is natural to feel paralyzed by powerlessness before evil. He urged them not to resign themselves, and he insisted justice is part of the answer. He called on them to cast off the armor of ethnic and political divisions and revive the dream of a united Lebanon, and ended with the cry, "Lebanon, stand up!" He had already urged political leaders, on arriving Sunday, to pursue truth as a path to peace and reconciliation.

The day had begun at De La Croix hospital, which specializes in care for people with psychological problems. Boys dressed as Swiss Guards and cardinals awaited him, and one wore the all-white papal dress. Mother Marie Makhlouf, the mother superior of the congregation that runs it, was overcome as she told him the hospital cares for forgotten souls burdened by loneliness. Leo said society cannot race ahead clinging to false myths of well-being while ignoring poverty and vulnerability. Pilgrim Maggie Claudine said the visit means a lot and that people hope peace will prevail.

The future of the port's grain silos, which absorbed much of the blast's force, remains contested. The government once planned to demolish them but backed off after victims' families and survivors protested. The port is largely working again but not fully rebuilt.

At the Beirut airport, Leo addressed the south, which his itinerary had not included, to the disappointment of Christians there. The region was battered by last year's war between Israel and Hezbollah and still faces regular Israeli airstrikes, which Israel says aim to stop Hezbollah from rebuilding. He greeted Tripoli, the north, the Beqaa and the south, "currently experiencing a state of conflict and uncertainty," and called Sidon and Tyre biblical places. He said armed struggle brings no benefit and that negotiation, mediation and dialogue are constructive. Soon after his plane left, an Israeli drone appeared over Beirut.

President Joseph Aoun asked the pope to keep Lebanon in his prayers, calling the Lebanese a faithful people who deserve life. What to watch now is whether the pope's words add pressure to move the stalled blast investigation, and whether strikes in the south continue.