Pope Leo XIV marks the second day of his Apostolic Journey to Lebanon with visits to the local Church, a meeting with the nation's religious leaders, and a festive celebration with young people.

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Lebanese young people share their thoughts about the Pope’s meeting with them at the square in front of the Maronite Patriarchate of Antioch in Bkerké on December 1, and explain what life is like as a young person in a country that has faced multiple crises in the last decades.

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Meeting with young people in Lebanon, Pope Leo XIV urges them not to give into despair, rather to cultivate friendships rooted in genuine love and to keep the enthusiasm that is needed "to change the course of history."

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At an ecumenical and interreligious encounter in Beirut, Pope Leo XIV upholds the Catholic Church’s desire to foster dialogue inspired by divine love, so as to affirm the dignity of every human being.

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HARISSA, Lebanon (CNS) -- At a shrine topped by a 28-foot-tall statue of Our Lady of Lebanon, Pope Leo XIV listened to stories of unshakable faith amid war, injustice and suffering.

The pope began Dec. 1 at the tomb of St. Charbel at the Monastery of St. Maron in Annaya, a place known for its atmosphere of silent prayer, especially in difficult moments.

Despite intermittent rain, thousands of people gathered along the road leading to the monastery, tossing rose petals or rice as a sign of welcome.

After entrusting the Catholics of Lebanon and the entire country to St. Charbel's care, Pope Leo went to the Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa and listened, like St. Charbel often did, to the cries of people's hearts. 

Father Youhanna-Fouad Fahed, a married Maronite Catholic priest and pastor of a parish near the Syrian border, spoke first. His village welcomed Syrian refugees from the war that began in 2011 and was repeatedly struck by shelling from the Syrian side of the border. In December 2024, when the Syrian civil war officially ended, more refugees came.

"The collection bag during Sunday Mass revealed to me a first, silent cry: I noticed Syrian currency inside: It was an offering mingled with pain," Father Fahed told the pope.

"Alone, feeling my people's suffering smothered by fear, the misery concealed by the shame of asking for help, I went in search of them," the priest said. Some told him they had fled to protect their daughters from forced marriage, and many arrived in Lebanon hoping to eventually migrate to Europe, even if that meant "entrusting their dreams to migrant smugglers who stole their savings."

All Father Fahed asked of Pope Leo was a word of comfort so the people would not feel forgotten and alone.

Sister Dima Chebib is a member of the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and director of a school in Baalbeck, which is considered by many to be a stronghold of the Hezbollah militia and has been struck repeatedly by Israeli shelling in the past year.

 

While many people fled the town, she said, the priests and religious of the Melkite Catholic diocese "decided to stay and welcome the refugee families -- Christian and Muslim -- who came seeking safety and peace. We shared bread, fear and hope. We lived together, prayed together and supported one another in fraternity and trust."

"In the heart of war," she told the pope, "I discovered the peace of Christ. And I give thanks to God for this grace of remaining, loving and serving to the end."

Loren Capobres, who came to Lebanon from the Philippines as a domestic worker and now works with Jesuit Refugee Service, described the people she helps as "people who had left everything behind -- broken not just by war, but by betrayal and abandonment."

Vincentian Father Charbel Fayad, a prison chaplain, told the pope of the repentance and conversion of prisoners who are amazed anyone cares enough to minister to them.

"Even in the darkness of the cells, the light of Christ never goes out," Father Fayad said.

Pope Leo responded to the testimonies by saying that just as for St. Charbel in the 19th century, so today "it is in being with Mary at the foot of Jesus' cross that our prayer -- that invisible bridge which unites hearts -- gives us the strength to continue to hope and work, even when surrounded by the sound of weapons and when the very necessities of daily life become a challenge."

Father Toni Elias, the Maronite pastor of Rmaych, near the Israeli border, did not speak to the pope, but told reporters, "We have basically been living in war for the past two, two and a half years but never without hope."

The visit of the pope, he said, is confirmation for believers that "what we have lived" -- the fear and the hope combined -- "has not been in vain."

Pope Leo's speech to government and civic leaders Nov. 30 had focused on the Lebanese people and did not mention Israel at all. But Father Elias said that was "beautiful" because peace and harmony among Muslims, Christians and Druze "are our roots, our culture. That is Lebanon."

Meeting the country's bishops, priests, religious and pastoral workers -- a crowd of about 2,000 people -- Pope Leo told them, "If we wish to build peace, we must anchor ourselves to heaven and, firmly set in that direction."

"Let us love without being afraid of losing those things which pass away and let us give without measure," the pope said. "From these roots, strong and deep like those of cedars, love grows and with God's help, concrete and lasting works of solidarity come to life."

Pope Leo was scheduled to end his morning with a private meeting with Catholic patriarchs from throughout the Middle East.
 

WASHINGTON – Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of Most Reverend W. Michael Mulvey, 76, from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Corpus Christi, and has appointed Most Reverend Mario A. Avilés, CO, currently auxiliary bishop of Brownsville, as his successor. 

The appointment was publicized in Washington, D.C. on December 1, 2025, by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

The Diocese of Corpus Christi is comprised of 10,951 square miles in the State of Texas and has a total population of 582,684, of which 209,726, are Catholic.

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WASHINGTON - The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Subcommittee on Catholic Home Missions convened this fall to review grant requests for the 2025-2026 year. The subcommittee awarded more than $7.8 million in grants for 69 dioceses and eparchies. These grants are made possible through the generosity of the Catholic faithful to the Catholic Home Missions Appeal, an annual collection taken in many U.S. dioceses.

Home mission dioceses and Eastern Catholic eparchies are found across the United States and its territories, many in regions with small Catholic populations in rural areas affected by economic hardship. Grants from the subcommittee help mission dioceses here in the U.S. support parish and diocesan operations, as well as ministries of evangelization, catechesis, and healing that grow and strengthen the Church.

“When parishioners contribute to the Catholic Home Missions Appeal, they bring faith, hope and love where it is most needed, regardless the amount of their gift. Their gifts have a profound, positive impact on Catholics who face poverty or the isolation of being a small, minority faith,” said Bishop Chad Zielinski of New Ulm, chairman of the Subcommittee on Catholic Home Missions.

Among the recipients:

• The Diocese of Rapid City’s Standing Rock Reservation Ministry conducts home visitation and parish faith formation activities led by three Franciscan sisters and a priest who serve members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. The ministry team cares for about 500 Catholics at four parishes on the 2.3 million acre reservation, while offering accompaniment and social support to 8,000 other residents of all faiths.
• The Diocese of Brownsville, Texas, received a grant for its Office of Deliverance Ministry to provide spiritual and emotional care for those who experience spiritual wounds and oppression by sin. This ministry receives more than 100 visits a month from people seeking spiritual liberation and healing through prayers of deliverance and the sacraments of Reconciliation and Anointing of the Sick.
• The Syro-Malankara Eparchy of St. Mary Queen of Peace traces its roots to the missionary work of St. Thomas the Apostle in India, but its 24 priests serve about 11,000 parishioners across the United States. Although the eparchy (the term for an Eastern Catholic diocese) has no paid lay staff, the grant empowers a wide range of ministry, including a youth summer camp, retreats, family conventions and vocational discernment.

“These stories reveal the wide range of spiritual and financial needs that the Catholic Home Missions Appeal addresses,” Bishop Zielinski said. “Parishioners in mission dioceses already give sacrificially from their limited means. My prayer is that their example of faith will inspire the rest of us dig deeper to help our neighbors carry out the mission that Jesus has entrusted to us.”

For more information on Catholic Home Missions, please see:https://www.usccb.org/committees/catholic-home-missions 

For those who have not yet donated but wish to support this work, #iGiveCatholic accepts funds for the Catholic Home Missions program.

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Sister Mary Youssef, Secretary General of the Franciscan Sisters of the Cross who run the Psychiatric Hospital of the Cross in Lebanon, talks about the joy of the sisters in welcoming Pope Leo XIV’s visit to the medical center on December 2.

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During a meeting with bishops, priests, consecrated men and women, and pastoral workers at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa, Pope Leo XIV highlights coexistence, education, and support for migrants as concrete paths toward peace.

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Despite the rain, crowds with flags and umbrellas welcome Pope Leo XIV at the Monastery of St. Maron in Annaya, the resting place of St. Charbel Makhlouf - "a saint that represents Lebanon."

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