Concluding a public Mass on Beirut’s waterfront, Pope Leo XIV made another call for peace.

“The Middle East needs new approaches in order to reject the mindset of revenge and violence, to overcome political, social and religious divisions, and to open new chapters in the name of reconciliation and peace,” he said. “The path of mutual hostility and destruction in the horror of war has been traveled too long with the deplorable results that are before everyone’s eyes.”

He urged Christians in the region to have courage and faith.

“Dear Christians of the Levant, when the results of your efforts for peace are slow in coming, I invite you to lift your gaze to the Lord who is coming,” Leo said.

The Mass drew an estimated 150,000 people, capping off Leo’s three-day visit to Lebanon before a return flight to Rome from the Beirut airport.

Leo calls for ‘justice and fraternity’ in Lebanon during Mass

Pope Leo called for Lebanon to be a “home of justice and fraternity” and a “prophetic sign of peace” in the region during the Mass.

In his homily, Leo acknowledged the many crises that have scarred Lebanon, citing the 2020 Beirut port blast, economic crises and “the violence and conflicts that have reawakened ancient fears.”

He said it is natural to feel “paralyzed by powerlessness in the face of evil and oppressed by so many difficult situations.”

But the pope urged Lebanon’s people to not be resigned and to find ways to remain hopeful and grateful. He insisted, though, that justice was part of the equation.

“Let us cast off the armor of our ethnic and political divisions, open our religious confessions to mutual encounter and reawaken in our hearts the dream of a united Lebanon,” he said. “A Lebanon where peace and justice reign, where all recognize each other as brothers and sisters.”

“Lebanon, stand up,” he said. “Be a home of justice and fraternity! Be a prophetic sign of peace for the whole of the Levant!”