Articles

Your Holiness, You kindly chose this country of the Levant as your first destination after your election as head of the Catholic Church. We thank you for that! Your presence here resembled the shadow of a white cloud gliding through a dark sky that has been overcast for far too long, letting its light shine upon this geographical space described in history books as the land of milk and honey, the land of hospitality and conviviality, the land of the eternal Cedar—majestic, strong, and unwavering. A land of encounter and exchange among cultures and diverse communities; a land of life, love, and peace, regularly attacked and often violated.

In 2019, Pope Francis was the first pope to make an official visit to Abou Dhabi. During this visit, Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al Azhar, Dr. Ahmed Al Tayeb, made history by jointly signing a document on human fraternity calling for tolerance, universal peace, and reconciliation between all religions. To commemorate this historical visit and in line with the charter of human fraternity, the government of the United Arab Emirates decided to build on Saadiyat Island the Abrahamic Family House, an architectural space of nearly 6,000 square meters dedicated to the three monotheistic religions. Inaugurated in 2023, it includes a church, a mosque, and a synagogue, as well as a forum.

The Vatican and the global Catholic community, including Lebanon, are currently marking the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate , the declaration promulgated by Pope Paul VI on the Catholic Church’s relationship with non-Christian religions. In Lebanon, a conference was held in Bkerké on November 8 to commemorate the event. The statement has often been called prophetic , and rightly so. It was written at a moment when, despite growing contact between peoples through modern transport and communication, religion was increasingly being used as a tool of violence across the five continents. The culture of religious and racial hatred had reached its darkest point in Europe during World War II, with the Holocaust and the extermination of millions of Jews by the Nazis.

Pope Leo gave the Lebanese what belongs to the Lebanese: recognition of their great resilience. But if we try to read his words on the serious global problem he identified for everyone through Lebanese eyes—let's say Lebanese eyes only, since he addressed these words to the whole world—we would understand that this resilience should be investigated: “A kind of pessimism and sense of powerlessness seem to have taken hold, where people are no longer able to ask themselves what they can do to change the course of history. Major decisions appear to be taken by a select few, often to the detriment of the common good, as if this were an inevitable destiny”.

As Pope Leo XIV visits Lebanon — and with the 30th UN Climate Change Conference in Belém, Brazil, ending with few tangible results — it is worth revisiting the concept of « Integral Ecology », a central idea in Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical « Laudato Si’ ». The document outlines a deeply human and inclusive vision of ecology — one that calls for both spiritual renewal and social justice. The term integral ecology reflects a holistic approach to the relationship between humankind and the environment. It promotes a worldview where environmental, social, cultural, and spiritual dimensions are inseparable. As the French Catholic Church site explains, this concept rests on “the conviction that ecological conversion is not confined to environmental issues alone” but also draws on hope, respect for all life, and a commitment to human dignity and fraternity. The Church, in this view, bears a moral responsibility for the care of Creation.

The “Gathering of Lebanese Shia” sent a message to Pope Leo XIV stating that the Lebanese State’s exclusive control of weapons “is the essential foundation for building a strong and just State.” Supporting peace “in accordance with Arab initiatives and international legitimacy,” the Gathering stressed its commitment to “acting exclusively under the authority of the State and the rule of law, and to supporting everything that strengthens its presence.” The “Gathering of Lebanese Shia” brings together academics, journalists, senior professionals, and Shiite citizens known for their sovereigntist stance, fundamentally opposed to Hezbollah’s political project.