For a country whose history is so intertwined with that of Christianity in the Middle East, it seems remarkable that it took 44 years from Lebanon’s foundation for a Catholic pontiff to set foot there. Although Pope Paul VI’s visit in 1964 consisted of an hour-long layover at Beirut airport, he used his brief address there to highlight how Lebanon “holds with honour its place in the concert of nations”.

Since that first flying visit, Lebanon has hosted more Catholic leaders. Pope John Paul II made a full apostolic visit in May 1997 followed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012, a time when civil war was raging in neighbouring Syria. On Sunday, Pope Leo XIV will arrive in Beirut for two days of religious and diplomatic engagements. It is notable that the US-born pontiff’s first foreign trips since becoming head of the Church in May are to Muslim-majority Turkey and the Levant.

In doing so, Pope Leo is continuing the outreach to the Muslim and Arab world undertaken by his predecessor, Pope Francis. Many will remember the Argentinian pontiff’s ground-breaking, three-day visit to the UAE in February 2019. There he celebrated the first-ever papal Mass in the Arabian Peninsula and signed the Document on Human Fraternity with the Grand Imam of Al Azhar, Dr Ahmed El Tayeb. As well as being a joyous moment for Catholics in the UAE, Pope Francis’s visit had religious tolerance, interfaith dialogue and peace at its heart.

Pope Francis was also determined to bring this message to more divided parts of the Middle East. His trip to Iraq in March 2021 – particularly to the war-torn city of Mosul and his meeting with Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani – not only demonstrated solidarity with the country’s beleaguered Christian minority, it was also an important example of bridge building in a multi-confessional society that had endured decades of violent turmoil.

Pope Leo has the opportunity to play a similarly important role in Lebanon, another country made up of a heterogenous and rich society, with a mosaic of faiths and communities but that also faces many difficult challenges. There is every reason to believe that his visit will be a positive one. During his trip to Turkey, Pope Leo not only engaged with local Muslims and Christians, he also met with representatives of the Armenian and Syriac communities, both of whom have deep ties to the wider Middle East. This is a promising sign of further fruitful exchanges to come in the years ahead.

This papal visit to Lebanon underlines the country’s importance. Next week, a UN Security Council delegation will arrive in a country where Israel bombs targets at will and continues to occupy Lebanese territory in the south all while a ceasefire agreement reached last year is still supposedly in place. Lebanese society is also at a crossroads, wrestling with the toxic legacy of institutionalised corruption, the 2020 Beirut Port explosion, an ailing economy and the enduring presence of Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Of course, these issues are beyond Pope Leo’s purview. Nevertheless, when one looks at the contribution Pope Francis made to fostering better relationships with a wide array of communities, we can see how voices of goodwill can help reframe debates and promote universal values. And as many celebrate Pope Leo’s first official visit to the Middle East, we must hope that it will not be his last.