The Lebanese are preparing to welcome Pope Leo XIV on Sunday for what many are calling a historic moment for the country.
After years of overlapping crises, many hope the visit will offer a measure of comfort to a nation still recovering from the 2020 Beirut blast and living under the threat of renewed war as Israeli attacks continue along the border.
The three-day trip is expected to be one of the most significant papal visits to Lebanon in decades, with stops at some of the country's most revered Christian sites - including places that have never before received a pope.
St Charbel in Annaya
Beloved well beyond Lebanon's Christian communities, Saint Charbel Makhlouf is one of the most recognisable figures in the country. His image appears in shopfronts, taxis and roadside shrines, and his reputation for intercession draws visitors from across the region.
Born Youssef Antoun Makhlouf in 1828, he became a monk at the Monastery of St. Maron and lived a life of strict asceticism. He died in 1898 and was canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1977.
Pope Leo is scheduled to visit St Charbel’s shrine at the St. Maron Monastery in Annaya on Monday, marking the first papal visit to the site. The timing coincides with the anniversary of the saint’s death. The monastery receives tens of thousands of pilgrims each year, including many Muslims who leave written prayers and messages at his tomb.
Our Lady of Lebanon
From Annaya, Pope Leo will travel to Harissa, home to one of Lebanon's most iconic landmarks. Our Lady of Lebanon overlooks the bay of Jounieh with a sweeping 20-metre statue of the Virgin Mary and a large Maronite basilica beside it.
Built in 1907, the shrine attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors annually and is considered one of the most well-known Marian sites in the world.
Pope John Paul II visited Harissa in 1997. Pope Leo’s programme includes a meeting with bishops, priests and pastoral workers at the shrine.
Bkerke: The Maronite Patriarchate
Nearby in Bkerke, seat of the Maronite Patriarchate, the Pope will meet young people and deliver what organisers describe as a special message.
Bkerke carries both religious and political weight. The Maronite Church has long been a central actor in Lebanon's political life, in a country where the presidency is reserved for a Maronite under the confessional power-sharing system.
Lebanon is home to the highest proportion of Christians in the Arab world, though no census has been conducted since 1932.
Land of Saints
Relative to its small size with an estimated population of six million people, Lebanon has a high number of saints.
Other than St. Charbel, the Vatican has canonised several holy figures from Lebanon, including St. Rafqa - a woman - in 2001. This Maronite nun from the Mount Lebanon town of Bikfaya lived between 1832 and 1914 and is also widely revered.
There is also St. Nimatullah al-Hardini (1808-1858 and canonised in 2004) and St. Marie-Alphonsine Danil Ghattas (1843–1927 and canonised in 2009), founder of the Dominican Sisters of the Holy Rosary.
Several other figures have been beatified (blessed), a process which takes place before officially declaring someone a saint.
'Bringer of peace'
Many of the country’s (newly refurbished) roads are dotted with billboards welcoming Pope Leo, reading "Lebanon wants peace, Pope of peace".
It is a visit many Lebanese are praying will help bring renewal to a country rattled by years of economic crisis and security challenges, where the fear of war still lingers in the air with Israeli drones and fighter jets.
In 1997, Pope John Paul II visited Lebanon and said it is "more than a country, it is a message," as he praised Lebanon as a unique model of Christian-Muslim coexistence despite the bloody civil war that had only ended a few years earlier.
The country was still under Israeli occupation in the south, and a Syrian military occupation in the rest of the country.
In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI visited Lebanon as revolutions and wars swept through the region, particularly in neighbouring Syria.
Today, millions in Lebanon await to see what message Pope Leo will deliver, to nation desperately seeking peace.