Pope Leo XIV ended his first overseas papal trip with prayers at Beirut's devastated port and a Mass attended by 150,000 worshippers in a country desperate for signs of hope amid fear of renewed war.

The pope’s visit is a sign of hope,” Rev. Miled Abboud told NBC News. “There are a lot of bleak things, of things that make us despair, but we have Christ who gives us strength to carry on.”

From trauma victims to migrant domestic workers, the pope inspired some of Lebanon’s most vulnerable as he presided over a waterfront mass in Beirut.

At Beirut's waterfront, Leo led the mass hours after praying at the site of the 2020 chemical port explosion that killed more than 220 people, injured over 6,500 and destroyed large parts of the city.

Pope Leo XIV has offered a silent prayer at the site of the 2020 Beirut port explosion as he wraps up his first foreign trip to Turkey and Lebanon

The individuals eliminated were officers in the Customs Department and journalists who had pointed to the link between Hezbollah and the explosion

A prayer at the site of the 2020 Beirut explosion and a waterfront Mass capped his three-day visit to the Middle Eastern nation with the highest proportion of Christians.

Pope Leo XIV waves at people as he arrives to visit the tomb of Saint Charbel Makhlouf at the Monastery of Saint Maron, during his first apostolic journey, in Annaya, Lebanon December 1, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir BEIRUT,