BEIRUT – Prior to his departure from Lebanon Tuesday, Pope Leo XVI issued his clearest remarks to date about conflict in the country, calling for an end to armed conflict.

Referring to the ongoing tensions between Hezbollah and Israel in the country’s south, the pope in his Dec. 2 farewell address thanking authorities for the visit and praising the beauty of Lebanon.

“In this regard, I greet all the regions of Lebanon that I was unable to visit: Tripoli and the north, the Beqaa and the south of the country, which is currently experiencing a state of conflict and uncertainty,” he said.

He voiced his hope for peace in the region and issued “a heartfelt appeal: May the attacks and hostilities cease.”

“We must recognize that armed struggle brings no benefit,” he said. “While weapons are lethal, negotiation, mediation and dialogue are constructive. Let us all choose peace as a way, not just as a goal!”

His words were the only direct mention of the conflict in southern Lebanon made during his Nov. 30-Dec. 2 visit to the country.

Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have risen sharply in recent weeks, and risk boiling over and morphing into a full-blown war.

Earlier this week, Israel’s military killed a senior member of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in an air strike on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, despite a yearlong ceasefire between the two.

On Friday the head of the Hezbollah military group, Naim Qassem, said in a televised address that it retained the right to Israel’s killing of it’s top military commander, raising concern about a potential new armed conflict between Lebanon and Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged that “Israel will not allow Hezbollah to rebuild its power, and we will not allow it to once again pose a threat to the State of Israel.” He urged Lebanese government “to fulfill its commitment to disarm Hezbollah.”

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in response urged the international community to pressure Israel to halt attacks and to withdraw from Lebanon, calling recent Israeli interventions a violation of last year’s ceasefire agreement.

Fighting between Hezbollah and Israel escalated amid the Gaza war, with an exchange of fire erupting last year. A ceasefire came into effect last November. However, this week’s bombing shows the fighting is far from over.

Hezbollah in a letter to Pope Leo prior to his arrival thanked him for his visit, invoking his repeated defense of human rights as grounds to make a formal opposition to Israel’s military activities in Gaza and Lebanon.

Though he did not specifically mention Israel, Pope Leo in his farewell remarks Tuesday made a passing reference to the nation, inviting those who “consider themselves” enemies of Lebanon to embrace peace.

“Here, I have found that people enjoy coming together, rather than being isolated,” he said.

Speaking of the culture of welcome and encounter he witnessed in Lebanon, he said that “leaving this land means carrying you in my heart. Thus, we are not leaving each other; rather, having met, we will move forward together.”

In this regard, he voiced hope that the Lebanese would “involve the entire Middle East in this spirit of fraternity and commitment to peace, including those who currently consider themselves enemies.”

Leo noted that Pope Francis had planned to make the visit to Lebanon, in large part to encourage the peace process, but was unable to because of illness and his death earlier this year.

“In reality, he is with us, walking with us alongside other witnesses to the Gospel who await us in God’s eternal embrace. We are heirs to what they believed, to the faith, hope and love that inspired them,” he said.

He acknowledged the joint appreciation for the Virgin Mary by both Christians and Muslims and praised the deep and ancient spiritual roots of Lebanon.

“Your history is a valuable source of nourishment that can sustain you on the difficult journey towards the future,” he said, and recalled his visit earlier that morning to the site of the Beirut Port Explosion that devastated much of Lebanon’s capital city, claiming nearly 300 lives and leaving thousands of others wounded and homeless.

There, Leo said he prayed for each of the victims, “and I carry with me the pain, and the thirst for truth and justice, of so many families, of an entire country.”

The pope closed his remarks urging the Lebanese to remember the words of Saint John Paul II during his visit to Lebanon. Namely, that it is “more than a country; it is a message!”

“Let us learn to work together and hope together, so that this may become a reality. May God bless the Lebanese people, all of you, the Middle East and all humanity!” he said.

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