Lebanon declares three days of mourning for 'beloved Pope Francis'

Lebanon has declared three days of national mourning following the death of Pope Francis, who passed away on Monday at the age of 88.

Flags on all government departments, institutions and municipalities will be flown at half-mast until Wednesday, and regular programming on radio and television stations will be adjusted to reflect the momentous occasion, a government memo said.

"The same measures will be taken on the day of His Holiness' funeral," the memo added.

Pope Francis, the first head of the Catholic Church from the Global South, died on Monday morning at the age of 88, after recently surviving a serious bout of double pneumonia.

Lebanese officials, including the president, prime minister, and speaker of parliament, as well as political groups, mourned Pope Francis, who sat at the head of the Catholic church for 12 years.

Lebanon has long shared close ties with the Holy See. The tiny eastern Mediterranean nation has the highest percentage of Christians in the Arab world and is the only Arab country with a Christian head of state, where a delicate power-sharing system between various religious sects governs the land.

An image of Lebanon's patron St. Charbel is hung next to the tomb of St. Paul VI, the pontiff who declared him a saint in 1977. A statue of St. Maroun, founder of the Maronite Church, the largest church in Lebanon, also stands on the outer wall of Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

Enduring solidarity

There were reports that Pope Francis was planning to visit Lebanon in 2022, but this never happened. Only two popes have visited the country - Pope John Paul II in 1997 and Pope Benedict XVI in 2012.

Pope Francis was remembered as a source of enduring solidarity in Lebanon. A picture of him kissing the Lebanese flag quickly went viral on social media following the news of his death.

On 1 July 2021, Francis called for a 'Day of Prayer and Reflection for Lebanon' inspired by the massive 2020 Beirut Port blast. It came at a time when the country suffered from a crushing financial and economic crisis and serious political tensions.

Lebanon is now reeling from the effects of a devastating war with Israel last year. Thousands of Lebanese Christians from southern border towns were forced from their homes when cross-border clashes between Hezbollah and Israel started in October 2023.

A Maronite priest in the border town of Rmaysh told Reuters: "He’s a saint for us because he carried Lebanon and the Middle East in his heart, especially in the last period of war".