Pope Leo XIV comforts 13 priests from southern Lebanon with a surprise video call
AP News • • world
Key Points:
- Pope Leo XIV surprised 13 Lebanese Catholic and Maronite priests from southern Lebanon by joining a video call from Rome, offering prayers and hoping for peace along the tense Israel-Lebanon border.
- The priests, from villages mostly spared intense Israeli bombardment, found the pope's words reassuring amid ongoing worries despite a ceasefire that started on April 17.
- Despite the ceasefire, Israel launched a strike in Beirut targeting a Hezbollah commander, and recently demolished a Catholic convent in the border village of Yaroun, claiming it was used by Hezbollah militants.
- Incidents involving Israeli soldiers desecrating Christian religious statues have sparked condemnation, with the Israeli military condemning a soldier’s inappropriate conduct.
- Christians constitute about one-third of Lebanon’s population, with Maronite Catholics being the largest Christian group; Pope Leo recently visited Lebanon and carries the memory of a young Lebanese boy killed in the recent conflict.
