Sawt Falasteen - Pope Leo to hold Beirut mass, visit port blast site

Before the service the pope was to pray at the site of a catastrophic port explosion on the final day of his Lebanon visit.

The pontiff arrived from Turkey on Sunday on his inaugural visit abroad as pope and brought a message of hope, particularly to young people in Lebanon, whose faith in their beleaguered country has dwindled.

His trip has been a welcome distraction in a nation still reeling from a war last year between Israel and militant group Hezbollah, with many fearing renewed hostilities.

Pope Leo's first stop on Tuesday was at a psychiatric hospital run by nuns near the capital, where he was greeted by hospital staff and patients to cheers, applause and shower of rose petals.

An emotional Marie Makhlouf, mother superior of the congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Cross, thanked the pope for being "a father to the forgotten, the abandoned and the marginalised".

She also emphasised the tough conditions in which the facility works to help the "forgotten" despite the collapse of state institutions, particularly since Lebanon's economic collapse, and a lack of support.

Pope Leo paid tribute to the work of the hospital, saying that "what is lived in this place stands as a clear reminder to all."

"We cannot forget those who are most fragile. We cannot conceive of a society that races ahead at full speed clinging to the false myths of wellbeing, while at the same time ignoring so many situations of poverty and vulnerability," he said.

More than 120,000 people have registered to attend the mass near Beirut's waterfront.

Large swathes of the city centre have been closed to traffic for the occasion, with soldiers deployed on nearby roads and people streaming towards the mass site since early morning.

- Silent prayer -

Before the service, Pope Leo is to hold a silent prayer at the site of the August 4, 2020 port explosion which killed more than 220 people, injured over 6,500 and devastated swathes of the capital.

He will pay his respects to relatives of victims and survivors who are still fighting for justice in the wake of the disaster, one of the world's largest non-nuclear explosions.

Authorities have said the blast was triggered by a fire in a warehouse where tonnes of ammonium nitrate had been stored haphazardly for years after arriving by ship, despite repeated warnings to senior officials.

Nobody has been held responsible for the disaster, with the investigation yet to yield results and political figures obstructing the judge's work on the case.

On Monday, the pontiff called on Christian and Muslim religious leaders gathered for an interreligious meeting to combat intolerance and violence.

He also got a rock-star welcome from some 15,000 youth in Bkerke, the seat of the Maronite church, urging them to "be the source of hope that the country is waiting for".

F.AbuZaid--SF-PST