The Pope from Lebanon calls for peace: 'The world looks at the Middle East with fear'

Speaking to the Catholic community in Harissa, Leo said that love has "a unifying power" even "in times of trial". If one starts from this consideration, "one does not remain crushed by injustice and abuse, even when," said Leo XIV, "one is betrayed by people and organisations that unscrupulously speculate on the desperation of those who have no alternative. This is the only way to regain hope for tomorrow, even in the harshness of a difficult present. In this regard, I think of the responsibility we all have towards young people'.

For the Pope, "it is important to foster their presence, even in ecclesial structures, appreciating their contribution of novelty and giving them space. And it is necessary, even amidst the rubble of a world that has its own painful failures, to offer them concrete and viable prospects of rebirth and growth for the future"

Then the Pope, still in Harissa, invited the Catholic community of Lebanon to always trust in prayer, 'an invisible bridge that unites hearts, gives us the strength to continue to hope and work, even when the noise of weapons thunders around and the very demands of daily life become a challenge'.

The shrine, considered the Lourdes of this Middle Eastern country, was built in 1904, on the 50th anniversary of the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception by Pope Pius IX. The inauguration took place on the first Sunday in May 1908, which has since become the annual feast of Our Lady of Lebanon. The white bronze statue of Our Lady, cast in Lyon (France), measures 8.50 metres in height and weighs about 15 tonnes.

The cone-shaped, hand-cut stone pedestal tower is 21 metres high and is among the most important Marian shrines in the Middle East. Pilgrims flock to it throughout the year, but especially in May, when night processions depart from the shoreline. Numerous Muslim visitors also come to the shrine, often on Sundays.