Thousands of people gathered Tuesday near Beirut’s destroyed port for a waterfront Mass led by Pope Leo XIV. It was an extraordinary end to his first international trip as head of the Catholic Church, which he used to deliver a message of peace to a tumultuous region.
From the outset, the day was laden with symbolism.
The pope began with a visit to patients and staff at a psychiatric hospital on the outskirts of Beirut, the Lebanese capital. He then offered a silent prayer near the site of the Beirut port explosion of 2020, where hundreds were killed and thousands injured when some 2,750 tons of military-grade ammonium nitrate combusted.
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