Baptized a “message-country,” Lebanon awaits the communion of peace

Pope Leo XIV has chosen Lebanon – baptized by his predecessor, Saint John Paul II, as a “message-country” – for his first apostolic trip outside Italy. Under the theme “Blessed are the peacemakers,” the visit pierces through Lebanon’s war-scarred history like a ray of light.

“Blessed are the peacemakers”: four words that set the tone. They leave their mark on the unfolding events and the course of history itself, as well as on the schedule of the visit, which is packed with official and ecumenical meetings, culminating in the solemn Mass to be celebrated along Beirut’s seafront. Yet, one must ask: does Lebanon truly need a communion of peace?

Lebanon is a complex society, yet one enriched by its diversity and multi-confessional makeup. For this reason, its social contract – aligned with the Lebanese model and ensuring national unity – rests on a key principle: neutrality, enshrined in international law. It is an essential condition for preventing the polarizations that divide Lebanese society.

In its positive sense, neutrality is not a retreat into isolation. On the contrary, it requires active engagement in regional and international affairs, while remaining free from political alignments and partisanship. It allows, for example, the pursuit of independent economic policies and the strengthening of preventive diplomacy, thereby separating the country’s religious communities from regional and international power axes.

Hezbollah’s case stands in stark contrast to the structure and specificities of Lebanese society. The group has monopolized “resistance,” framing it as an Islamic resistance linked to Iran and the export of the Islamic Republic’s revolution. It has pulled Lebanese Shiites away from their communities and their country, subordinating them to the cross-border influence of the Wilayat al-Faqih. Hezbollah has drawn both Shiites and other Lebanese into a perpetual war, without clear objectives or prospects. Resist for the sake of resistance! Arming only to defend the arms!

Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 2000, yet Hezbollah’s arsenal remained a symbol of subordination to Iranian influence and its regional agenda. The group has fought in Syria and Yemen and has threatened Arab security, including in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Egypt. Ultimately, its policies have left Lebanon trapped in a deadly isolation.

After the liberation, Hezbollah was responsible for a return of occupation, and following reconstruction, for a return of destruction in South Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley, as well as in Beirut and its southern suburbs.

However, major shifts have occurred in the regional geopolitical landscape following Hamas’s military operation, “Al-Aqsa Flood,” against Israel. Tel Aviv’s response weakened the role of Iran’s proxies and, with the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, curtailed the influence of the Wilayat al-Faqih, which had extended to the Syrian coast. Hezbollah suffered a military defeat after opening the southern front to support Hamas, as part of Iran’s so-called “unity of fronts” project.

All of these events have brought Lebanon to a moment of truth. And the truth is that, for Lebanese society as a whole, Hezbollah’s misfortunes represent opportunities for the state to reclaim what it had lost due to the group’s actions.

Restoring the state’s role in defense, security, the economy, and social development, however, depends on conditions set by Lebanon’s neutrality project and the pursuit of peace with all its neighbors.

The Pope’s visit thus comes at a pivotal moment, offering an act of peace grounded in Christian values at their most noble and humanist, for the benefit of every individual. It arrivers on the threshold of a new phase, within a regional and international context favorable to Lebanon, this “message-country.”

It should be emphasized that the hoped-for peace poses no threat to Lebanon’s national identity or its security. On the contrary, its establishment helps reduce violations of the law and legal norms.

In a multi-confessional country like Lebanon, the common identity that underpins the unity of the people is a composite one, built not on a single or dominant culture, but on ongoing intercultural dialogue and a shared commitment to coexistence. This commitment alone is enough to bring such an identity to life. Coexistence does not mean imposing one way of life on another community, nor attempting to shape individuals according to a single model.

Peace also promotes the development of a national security diplomacy. This allows for the strengthening of legitimate security institutions – namely the army, security forces, and the police. Militias and parallel security systems can no longer coexist with the state or circumvent its exclusive right to monopolize arms.

However, a national security strategy is not limited to the role and function of weapons alone: Lebanon cannot be protected by arms alone. Lebanon, this “message-country,” is not Sparta, and the communities that compose it – including the Shiite community – are not made up solely of soldiers, fighters, and martyrs!

Peace, grounded in national security considerations, requires the development of the economy as an essential component of a comprehensive security system, ensuring internal stability, civil peace, and national unity through equitable development.

The political system must strengthen the concept of citizenship rather than obstruct it or rise against it under the pretext of sectarian dominance.

National security diplomacy also entails reinforcing all of Lebanon’s international relations, not just those with its neighbors. It calls for the restoration of ties severed with its regional and global environment through a policy that safeguards the country’s highest national interests.

How can peace automatically strengthen the mechanisms of the rule of law and judicial independence? In this long-awaited period of peace, the transfer and stockpiling of weapons are no longer necessary, nor are the pretexts used to justify ideological mobilization and the parallel economy, which leads to sanctions.

The survival of Lebanon, this “message-country,” depends on the project of national neutrality and the embrace of peace. The Pope is therefore warmly welcomed, along with his message: “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Let the Lebanese Parliament adopt Lebanon’s neutrality and enshrine it in the preamble of the Constitution, while working to have this principle recognized internationally. Let Lebanon engage in peace negotiations with Israel, in pursuit of national interest, the country’s security, and… its vocation, which gives meaning to its very existence.