An estimated 150,000 worshippers packed the Beirut waterfront for Leo’s final Mass, which he celebrated immediately after praying at the nearby blast site.
In a homily on Sunday after praying at the site, Leo referred explicitly to the blast and called for Lebanon to be a place of justice. He said it’s natural to feel “paralysed by powerlessness in the face of evil and oppressed by so many difficult situations.”
But he urged them not to be resigned, and to find ways to remain hopeful and grateful.
He insisted, though, that justice was part of the equation.
The American pope opened his final day in Lebanon with an emotional visit to the De La Croix hospital, which specialises in care for people with psychological problems. Leo said the facility stands as a reminder to all of humanity.
“We cannot forget those who are most fragile. We cannot conceive of a society that races ahead at full speed clinging to the false myths of well-being, while at the same time ignoring so many situations of poverty and vulnerability,” he said.
In his farewell speech at the Beirut airport, Leo referenced the ongoing conflict in southern Lebanon, including “Biblical places” of Tyre and Sidon, and sent a message of support to people of the south as he wrapped up the first foreign trip of his pontificate.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun urged the pope to keep Lebanon in his prayers. “As we bid you farewell, we do not only part with an honoured guest, but with a father who brought us comfort, and reminded us that the world has not forgotten Lebanon,” he said.
Lebanese were overjoyed that a pope had finally managed to visit. Pope Francis had tried for years to come but was stymied first by its economic and political crises, and then by his own health problems. (AP)
