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Pope Leo XIV begins Lebanon visit amid economic crisis, heightened security concerns
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Pope Leo XIV arrived in Lebanon on Sunday, opening the second half of his first international trip as pontiff after three days in Turkey marked by calls for unity, peace and renewed ties among Christian communities.
His stop in Lebanon places him in a nation where Christians have long-faced war, instability and a wave of emigration that has reshaped the country’s demographics.
Lebanon was once a Christian-majority country, a balance reflected in the 1932 census that recorded Christians as just over half the population. No official count has been conducted since, but demographic studies and independent estimates show a significant shift over the past century. As Reuters reported, Christians are now «believed to make up roughly a third of Lebanon’s population,» a decline driven by emigration, conflict, and changing birth rates.
POPE LEO XIV OPENS FIRST FOREIGN TRIP IN TURKEY WITH A VISIT TO CHRISTIANITY’S EARLY HEARTLANDS
Pope Leo XIV and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I attend a signing ceremony of a joint declaration at the Ecumenical Patriarchate, during Pope’s first apostolic journey, in Istanbul, Turkey on Nov. 29, 2025. (Dilara Senkaya/Reuters/Pool)
JP De Gance, founder and president of Communio, told Fox News Digital that the choice of Turkey and Lebanon as the Pope’s first destinations is intentional. «Pope Leo chose to make Turkey and Lebanon the site of his first trip very likely to emphasize two major themes of his pontificate. Coming out of the conclave that elected him, he has placed a great emphasis on both unity and on peace.»
Lebanon marks the most emotionally charged part of the trip. The last papal visit came in 2012. Pope Francis had hoped to travel there but was unable to make the journey because of health concerns. Lebanon is often described as having the highest proportion of Christians in the Middle East, yet these communities have been devastated by economic collapse, political paralysis and mass migration over the last decade.
Pope Leo XIV arrives on helicopter near the archaeological excavations of the ancient Basilica of Saint Neophytos to take part in a prayer service with Bartholomew I, on his second day in Turkey on Nov. 28, 2025 in Iznik, Turkey. Pope Leo XIV is making his first foreign trip on a six-day visit to Turkey and Lebanon. During his trip, the Pope is scheduled to meet with faithful from local Catholic communities, as well as political and religious leaders, drawing attention to regional issues. (Photo by Simone Risoluti – Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images) ((PhSimone Risoluti/Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)
The Associated Press reported that the Pope’s schedule includes meetings with political leaders, Christian and Muslim clerics and families affected by overlapping national crises. A key moment will come on Dec. 2 when he visits the Port of Beirut, the site of the 2020 explosion that killed more than 200 people and wounded thousands. His presence there is expected to draw significant attention in a country where many still demand accountability for the blast.
Local media outlets report that large crowds are expected despite deep infrastructure problems and ongoing security challenges.
The Pope arrives amid one of Lebanon’s most volatile periods in years, with repeated exchanges of fire along the southern border throughout 2024 and 2025 between Hezbollah and Israeli forces. The clashes displaced residents and raised fears of a wider conflict, prompting questions about whether the situation might force last-minute changes to the papal itinerary.
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A billboard depicting Pope Leo XIV, ahead of his planned visit to Lebanon, at the main airport road in Beirut, Lebanon Nov. 21, 2025. (Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni addressed those concerns in comments to EWTN Vatican, confirming that the schedule remains intact. «There is no specific concern related to the recent Israeli strike,» Bruni said. He added that «the situation was already well known even a few months ago, and all necessary precautionary measures have been taken.»
De Gance said the Lebanon leg underscores the Pope’s focus on Christians in the most vulnerable regions. «In terms of peace, I believe the pope has added Lebanon to this trip because a great many Christian communities — both those in full communion with Rome and those who are Eastern Orthodox — are suffering in a war-torn region.»
He added that the trip also aims to draw international attention to communities often overlooked. «Leo likely wants to bring the bully pulpit of the papacy to the region to bring a message of peace that also advocates for those often forgotten in the West — our Eastern Christian brothers and sisters.»
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Posters of Pope Leo XIV, along with Lebanese and Vatican flags, are placed along a road ahead of his planned visit to Lebanon, in Hazmieh, Lebanon, on Nov. 28, 2025. (Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)
The themes emerging in Lebanon mirror those set in Turkey, where Pope Leo appealed for dialogue amid regional tensions. His opening days as pontiff emphasized reconciliation, solidarity and support for Christian communities navigating political and social upheaval.
His visit to Turkey, where the Pope marked the 1700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea in İznik. At an ecumenical prayer service near the archaeological remains associated with the council, he gathered with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and other Christian leaders.
De Gance highlighted the significance of the commemoration. «Pope Leo chose to commemorate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicea, which has such historic significance because this council helped define the reality — now still accepted by Protestants, Catholics and Orthodox — that Jesus Christ is truly God and truly man.» He added, «At the time of the council, a great many Christians had begun to reject this central apostolic truth. This first council helped settle this controversy and is rightly celebrated today by those in the East and the West as creating greater unity within the entire church.»
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Pope Leo XIV attends a ceremony marking the 1700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea held in the ruins of Basilica of Saint Neophytos, revealed in 2014 after water levels receded in Lake Iznik and identified as having been built in honor of Saint Neophytos in Bursa, Turkiye on November 28, 2025. Fener Greek Patriarch Bartholomeos (R) also attended the event. (Photo by Baris Seckin/Anadolu via Getty Images) ((Photo Baris Seckin/Anadolu via Getty Images)
During the ceremonies, Pope Leo emphasized the shared Christian heritage found in the Nicene Creed, a foundational statement of faith recited across denominations.
For many Lebanese Christians, his arrival offers a moment of recognition from Rome and a source of hope during a period of deep national uncertainty.
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Congress will return to Washington, D.C., next week entering into a dead sprint to wrap up work before the year’s end, to cap off a blistering, often dramatic year on the Hill.
Both chambers will have three working weeks before again fleeing from the growing chill in Washington to their respective districts and states. And lawmakers have some of the biggest challenges of the year left to finish.
Perhaps the biggest looming legislative fight will be how lawmakers approach the expiring enhanced Obamacare subsidies, which dominated the recently ended government shutdown.
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Congress will have three weeks before the year’s end to sprint through a massive legislative agenda, with grueling fights over Obamacare subsidies and hope that a tranche of spending bills can pass, among other issues, awaiting them. (AP; Getty; Fox News Digital)
Neither side has produced a fulsome plan on how to tackle the subsidies, though some solutions from Republicans, like funneling the subsidy funding into Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), have been floated.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., acknowledged last week that producing a solution would be a steep hurdle, and reiterated his commitment to Senate Democrats that they would get a vote on whatever proposal they produce no later than the second week in December.
Thune noted that «the one thing that unites» the GOP is the belief that the subsidies need to be reformed and that rising healthcare costs need to be dealt with.
«I think the affordability issue is a big issue,» Thune said. «I think it’s been exacerbated by the way that Obamacare has been structured through the years, including the way that enhanced subsidies were structured by going directly to insurance companies and incentivizing them to enroll people without their knowledge.»
And the White House also has its own plan, which was expected to be rolled out earlier this week, but sidelined over reportedly disgruntled Republicans who disliked the proposed language.
When asked about specifics of the plan, and it was scrapped, a White House official told Fox News Digital that «there was never a healthcare announcement listed on [Monday’s] daily guidance.»
But the rumblings of a plan from President Donald Trump and the administration have encouraged some Senate Democrats.
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President Donald Trump speaks prior to pardoning the National Thanksgiving Turkey during a ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House, Nov. 25, 2025. (Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., who originally proposed legislation to extend the subsidies, said she was glad the president was making an effort to ensure the credits don’t sunset by the end of the year.
«I’ve had constructive conversations with many of my Republican colleagues who I believe want to get this done,» Shaheen said in a statement. «They understand that the vast majority of people who benefit from these tax credits live in states the President won, and that the President’s own pollsters have underscored the enormous political urgency of Republicans acting.»
But Obamacare is not the only issue Congress faces. Lawmakers are eyeing passage of the annual National Defense Authorization Act by the end of the year, the Senate is considering another package of Trump’s nominees and another package of spending bills is expected on the horizon, too.
That package of four bills, which is expected to include the Defense, Labor, Transportation and Commerce funding bills, would be a massive step toward averting yet another deadline to fund the government by Jan. 30, 2026.
Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, said earlier this month that there was also an «interest on the House side» to move the bills.
«The more appropriations bills that we’re able to pass, the better off we’re going to be, the better off the American people will be served,» she said.
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Sen. John Kennedy pauses while speaking to members of the media in the basement of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, May 21, 2019. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
There are also some lingering issues that could pose surprises before the year’s end, including how Congress will handle Russia sanctions and the controversial provision in the package that reopened the government that would allow senators to sue for upwards of $500,000 if their records were requested without notification.
On the sanctions front, the Senate has overwhelmingly bipartisan legislation that Trump appears to support, but there’s a possible disconnect between Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on where the legislation should originate.
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Thune believed it’d be better suited in the House given that it’s a revenue-geared bill, while Johnson warned that it would be time-consuming to pass the bill in the lower chamber because of how many different committees it would have to move through.
Some in the Senate are already looking ahead to next year, when lawmakers will be in full midterm election mode. Another crack at budget reconciliation, the process used to pass Trump’s marquee «big, beautiful bill,» has been floated, but whether there is broad buy-in from congressional Republicans remains in the air.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said that it would be «legislative malpractice» to not undertake the grueling process once more.
«It’s just exquisitely dumb,» Kennedy said. «Why would you not take advantage of an opportunity to pass something with 51 votes? That doesn’t mean that our Democratic colleagues can’t join with us, but if they don’t, they can’t filibuster. Did I mention it’s exquisitely dumb?»
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INTERNACIONAL
Rubio, Witkoff meet with Ukrainian officials in push to finalize deal after Zelenskyy’s top negotiator resigns
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner met Ukrainian negotiators Sunday in Florida to build on the recent peace talks in Geneva, and work through the remaining details of the agreement reached last week.
«The end goal is obviously not just the end of the war. Obviously, that’s essential and fundamental. We want to see the end of the killing and the death and the suffering, and I’m sure the Ukrainian side, I know they do as well,» said Rubio in an opening statement. «They want peace. But it’s also about securing an end to the war that leaves Ukraine sovereign and independent and with an opportunity at real prosperity.»
Rustem Umerov, the head of the Ukrainian delegation and secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, thanked his American counterparts and Trump for their efforts to end the war, saying he was looking forward to a productive meeting.
The Florida meeting comes after Andriy Yermak, Ukraine’s top negotiator, resigned Friday after anti-corruption agencies raided his home. Ukraine has been embroiled in an alleged $100 million kickback corruption scheme linked to the state-owned nuclear power company Energoatom.
ZELENSKYY WARNS UKRAINE FACES ‘DIFFICULT CHOICE’ AS US PEACE PLAN HITS MAJOR HURDLE
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov attends a session of the Coalition of the Willing during a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels on April 10, 2025. (Omar Havana/Getty)
«The dialogue based on the Geneva points will continue. Diplomacy remains active. The American side is demonstrating a constructive approach, and in the coming days it is feasible to flesh out the steps to determine how to bring the war to a dignified end,» Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. «The Ukrainian delegation has the necessary directives, and I expect the guys to work in accordance with clear Ukrainian priorities.»
Zelenskyy wrote on X that Umerov would lead efforts to outline the steps to end the war and to hammer out the remaining elements of the peace framework.A U.S. official told Fox News Tuesday that Kyiv agreed to a peace deal, with only minor points still to be resolved.
Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko and Energy Minister Svitlana Grynchuk submitted their resignations on Nov. 12, 2025. (Thierry Monasse/Getty Images; Andrii Nesterenko/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
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Witkoff is expected to travel to Moscow this week to discuss the updated peace framework that reportedly stands at 19 points instead of the original 28, which was criticized by European leaders as too favorable to the Kremlin.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov suggested Moscow could reject the White House’s latest Ukraine peace deal framework if it does not uphold the «spirit and letter» of the understandings reached at the August Alaska summit between Trump and Vladimir Putin.
He warned that if the terms of the «key understandings» are «extinguished» then the situation would become «fundamentally different.»
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov listens to North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui during their talks in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Oct. 19, 2023. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service telegram channel via AP)
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Russia has maintained its maximalist demands in negotiations, insisting Ukraine be barred from joining NATO and required to give up the rest of the Donbas region as part of any agreement.
The Kremlin has kept up its drone and missile barrages even as negotiations continue to move forward. Zelenskyy said Sunday that over the past week alone, Russia fired nearly 1,400 attack drones, 1,100 guided aerial bombs and 66 missiles at Ukraine.
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