Lebanese Catholics abroad await Pope Leo XIV\u2019s visit to their homeland with hope Members of the Lebanese Catholic diaspora are anticipating Pope Leo XIV\u2019s three-day visit to Lebanon, taking place from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2, with great hopes the new pontiff will continue his papal predecessors\u2019 solidarity with the Middle East\u2019s most Christian country. While Lebanon\u2019s current population currently stands at 5.8 million people, an estimated 14 million to 18 million people of Lebanese origin live in other countries, according to a 2024 Australian National University Migration Hub report. Since the mid-1970s, millions of Lebanese have left the country after witnessing decades of instability and destruction brought about by the 1975\u20131990 Lebanese Civil War, military invasions by neighboring Israel and Syria, and, more recently, the country\u2019s 2020 economic collapse. Though many fled their homeland in search of peace and security abroad, many Lebanese held on to their Eastern Catholic identities and passed on their religion to their children, including the parents of U.S. vocations director for the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, Father Charbel Boustany, FFI. Born in Sydney two years after his family left Lebanon to escape the civil war, Boustany told CNA his parents passed down their Maronite Catholic identity to their children, whom they raised in Australia. Eastern Catholic Churches follow the pope but celebrate liturgies similar to those of Eastern Orthodoxy. Leo\u2019s visit will be the third formal papal journey to Lebanon. The priest told CNA he believes the visit from the bishop of Rome will be \u201ca beautiful expression of the full communion that unites the Maronite and Roman Catholic Churches.\u201d \u201cThe fact that Pope Leo has chosen Lebanon for his first apostolic journey speaks volumes about the importance of this small yet deeply symbolic country \u2014 not only to the Church but to the world,\u201d he said. Though the majority of Lebanese Catholics belong to the Maronite rite, Melkite Catholic Elie Bassila told CNA Leo\u2019s visit is significant for all Christians \u2014 Catholic and Orthodox \u2014 who belong to \u201cthe family of the Oriental Churches\u201d in Lebanon. \u201cFor us Melkites in particular, who cherish our Byzantine heritage and our long-standing commitment to communion with Rome, the pope\u2019s visit reaffirms the value of our identity and our mission within the wider Church,\u201d he said. At a time when the future feels uncertain due to regional conflicts as well as sectarian divisions eroding national unity, Bassila said he believes Christians need to see and feel the support of the Holy Father. \u201cThis visit comes at a historically decisive moment for Lebanon,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is more than a gesture of solidarity \u2014 it is a visit of hope.\u201d \u201cWe need the head of the Church to stand with our families, with our brothers and sisters of every community, and to reaffirm the importance of fraternity and dialogue among all who call Lebanon home,\u201d he added. Both Bassila and Boustany are praying Pope Leo\u2019s visit will help Lebanese \u2014 living in Lebanon or abroad \u2014 to rediscover or renew their sense of faith, hope, and love in God, especially when daily life can feel like a struggle for mere survival. \u201cLebanon is a country that has endured immense suffering but continues to bear witness to faith and resilience,\u201d Boustany said. John Paul II\u2019s solidarity with Lebanon throughout civil war Recalling earlier pontificates, Boustany \u2014 who was named after the Maronite mystic St. Charbel \u2014 said St. John Paul II\u2019s solidarity with Lebanese people has had a profound impact on generations of families living in and outside of Lebanon. \u201cOne of his most memorable statements, made in 1989, still resonates deeply: \u2018Lebanon is more than a country; it is a message of freedom and an example of pluralism for East and West,\u201d Boustany told CNA, quoting the Polish pope\u2019s message of peace in Lebanon. \u201cThat vision still inspires many Lebanese today,\u201d he said. For Bassila, that phrase \u201cbecame part of our national identity\u201d and \u201cremains one of the most powerful messages ever spoken to the people of Lebanon.\u201d Having left Lebanon as a young adult to work as an international humanitarian aid worker, Bassila has vivid childhood memories of the Polish pope\u2019s visit to his homeland seven years after the civil war ended. \u201cI was 10 years old when Pope John Paul II visited Lebanon on May 10\u201311, 1997, and that date is engraved in the Lebanese collective memory,\u201d Bassila told CNA. \u201cHis visit \u2014 essentially the first full papal visit to Lebanon \u2014 came just after the end of the civil war, at a time when people and families were still wounded, struggling, and trying to rebuild their lives,\u201d he continued. Throughout the duration of the civil war approximately 150,000 people were killed, 17,000 went missing, and hundreds of thousands more people were left displaced, according to an Associated Press report. Describing the highly-televised visit as a \u201ctrue national event,\u201d Bassila recalled how \u201cthe highway from the airport to the Melkite Basilica of St. Paul in Harissa was completely filled with crowds\u201d waiting to greet the leader of Catholics worldwide. \u201cIt was festive in a way Lebanon hadn\u2019t experienced in years,\u201d he shared with CNA. \u201cI still recall our Orthodox neighbor buying a huge Vatican flag and heading out to greet the pope \u2014 something that, for me, symbolized unity and a rare moment of joy shared across communities,\u201d he continued. Benedict XVI\u2019s call for unity, dialogue in the Middle East The second papal visit to Lebanon was made by Pope Benedict XVI about a year after the Syrian civil war broke out on March 15, 2011. During the 2012 visit, Benedict promoted interreligious dialogue and promulgated his apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in Medio Oriente in Beirut on the Sept. 14 feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross. Boustany, who had already entered religious life in Australia by the time of Benedict\u2019s visit to Lebanon, closely followed the three-day papal visit through Catholic media. \u201cI also recall how Patriarch [Bechara Boutros] Ra\u00ef spoke about the Holy Father\u2019s amazement at being welcomed with such joy not only by Christians but also by Lebanese of other faiths,\u201d he said, reflecting on comments made by the head of the Maronite Church. \u201cIt was a remarkable testimony to Lebanon\u2019s spirit of coexistence,\u201d he added. This article was originally published by CNA. Receive the most important news from EWTN Vatican via WhatsApp. It has become increasingly difficult to see Catholic news on social media. 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