Pope Leo XIV met with Lebanon’s top state authorities, civil society representatives and the diplomatic corps on Sunday, as President Joseph Aoun used the rare papal visit to urge international support for Lebanon’s fragile model of coexistence and warn that its collapse would fuel extremism across the Middle East.

Welcoming the pontiff at the Presidential Palace, Aoun described the pope as “a messenger of peace to a nation of peace,” saying it was a “great honor” to host him on behalf of all Lebanese.

“Lebanon may be small in size, but it is great in its mission. It has always been a land where faith and freedom meet, where diversity coexists with unity, and where pain walks hand in hand with hope," he said. 

Aoun placed the visit in a scriptural and historical context, noting that Lebanon “is mentioned repeatedly in the Holy Scriptures as a symbol of elevation, steadfastness, and holiness.” He pointed to the country’s mountains and forests, invoked in the Song of Songs, as markers of spiritual beauty and purity.

“With immense pride, I welcome Your Holiness to the land of the Canaanite woman who sought healing for her daughter and to whom Jesus said: ‘O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ Today, all our people are like that Canaanite woman. Our faith is great… and our hope is for the healing of souls, hearts, and minds from hatred, wars, and destruction.”

The president used the moment to issue a stark warning about the consequences of Lebanon’s breakdown. Calling Lebanon a unique global example of equal coexistence between different faiths.

“It is the duty of a living humanity to safeguard Lebanon. For if this model collapses, there will be no other place on earth where it can survive.”

“If the Christians disappear from Lebanon, the equation of the nation and its justice collapse. If the Muslims disappear, the balance of the nation and its moderation fall apart.”

Any disruption of Lebanon’s model, he said, would lead to “new frontlines, here and across the world, between different forms of extremism and ideological, material, and even bloody violence.”

Aoun recalled the Vatican’s long-standing engagement with Lebanon, noting that Pope Paul VI was among the first global voices to warn against threats to the country’s unity and sovereignty, while Saint John Paul II left a lasting mark by declaring that “Lebanon is more than a country; it is a message of freedom and pluralism for both East and West.” That same pope, Aoun added, took the unprecedented step of dedicating a special synod to Lebanon and stressed four decades ago that the presence of free Christianity in the country was essential for its survival, and for the region’s.

He highlighted the consistency of papal messaging in later years, including Pope Benedict XVI’s insistence during a visit to Beirut that the Middle East’s future must rest on “partnership, pluralism, and mutual respect.” Benedict underscored this by choosing Lebanon as the place to announce the Apostolic Exhortation for the Middle East.

Aoun told Pope Leo XIV that his own visit — the fourth papal visit in Lebanon’s history — carries similar symbolism. The pope selected Lebanon as his first trip outside Rome, traveling directly from Nicaea on the 1,700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed. This, Aoun said, was a sign of the Vatican’s confidence in Lebanon and an opportunity for the Lebanese “to renew our faith in humanity.”

In an emotional appeal, Aoun asked the pope to deliver a message to the world on Lebanon’s behalf.

“Tell the world that we will not die, we will not leave, we will not despair, and we will not surrender,” he said. “We will remain here: breathing freedom, creating joy, practicing love, embracing innovation, singing modernity, and crafting each day a fuller life.”

He described Lebanon as a “meeting ground” for the diverse descendants of Abraham; a place, he said, where people of all beliefs can gather around the Successor of Peter in a way that is possible nowhere else.

“What Lebanon brings together no place on earth can contain,” Aoun said. “What Lebanon unites no one can divide.”

He argued that Lebanon’s very makeup allows it to live in peace with its region, and to transmit that peace outward.

“Through this equation,” he said, “Lebanon lives in peace with its region and brings peace from its region to the world.”

Aoun closed his speech on a defiant but hopeful note.

“We do not fear, Your Holiness,” he said. “Through your prayers and blessings, and through our faith in our right and in our homeland, we remain here as children of hope, children of resurrection.”

“We remain here, the light of the East, its beacon, and the salt of its earth. We remain here: messengers of love and goodness… disciples of the One who taught us not to fear, but to trust in Him; He who conquered the world with His love and peace. Long live love, long live peace, long live Your Holiness, and long live Lebanon," Aoun concluded.