Pope prays silently at the Beirut Port as Lebanese cries for justice continue

On the final day of his Lebanon trip, Pope Leo XIV made a highly anticipated visit to the Port of Beirut, a place that has come to represent painful memories for many of the city's residents. 

On 4 August 2020, one of the biggest ever non-nuclear blasts in history tore the capital, with shockwaves felt miles away, and more than 230 people left dead. 

The explosion was triggered by a fire in a warehouse where tonnes of ammonium nitrate fertiliser had been haphazardly stored for years after arriving by ship, despite repeated warnings to senior security officials to remove them.

More than five years later, some individuals remain unaccounted for, leaving families with no sense of closure. 

The blast also occurred at the onset of Lebanon’s economic collapse and the Covid-19 pandemic, fuelling further panic and disappointment in the country.

Despite the full details behind the catastrophe remaining unknown, the Pope's arrival in the country has lifted the spirits of many, particularly following deadly strikes carried out by Israel in recent years. 

Silent prayer at the port

On Tuesday, hours before departure for Rome and wrapping up what the Lebanese have called a "historic" visit, the pope held a silent prayer at the port and met with some of the families of the victims.

Pope Leo recited a silent prayer, laid a wreath of flowers, and lit a candle at a memorial there before greeting survivors of the blast and tearful relatives of its victims.

Many cried as the head of the Catholic Church gave them rosaries in pouches bearing his coat of arms. Some bowed and kissed his hand, pointing to the pictures of their lost loved ones.

In his farewell remarks before leaving Beirut, the pope said he was deeply moved. In a post on his X page, the pope wrote: "I pray for all the victims, and I carry with me the pain and the thirst for truth and justice of so many families, of an entire country."

Cries for justice

Beirut resident Kristy Asseily is one of the many still frustrated by the deadly blast. 

She ran in the 2025 municipal elections in the capital, challenging the same establishment parties that many Lebanese accuse of shielding those wanted by the judiciary.

"It was very humbling to see the pop comforting people this way," she tells The New Arab.

She called out the sheer hypocrisy of Lebanon’s political class, noting that while many attended the pope’s reception and other events, they never bothered to visit the blast site after the tragedy.

"This is horrific. [French President Emmanuel] Macron went, the pope went, but here only a handful of people from the political class cared enough to visit the site," she told TNA.

Investigative Judge Tarek Bitar’s probe has stalled for more than two years due to resistance from the political establishment. His hands are tied by the numerous lawsuits against him by politicians and judges he has summoned for questioning. 

Political divisions over the case – particularly Hezbollah’s opposition to Bitar – resulted in brief armed clashes on 14 October 2021, the worst street violence in the country since 2008.

Families of victims and others have blasted political interference in the case in what they call "the crime of the century."

Asseily said Lebanon needed a political renewal to get to the bottom of what happened on 4 August 2020, saying that the pope’s attention "was beautiful on a human level, but it reignited anger, that they’re still kicking the can down the road when it comes to justice and accountability."

Removing the parliamentary immunity for those summoned by Judge Bitar and who are refusing to attend the hearings is a first step, argues Asseily.

"We as citizens, families of victims, have not forgotten. We, the people and victims of Beirut, will not forget. It’s easy to get distracted and not follow the case, but this is the one thing we [Lebanese] are all united around, and cannot accept to neglect," she says.

'No divisiveness here'

Asseily commended President Joseph Aoun and the government of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam for their pledge to pursue justice, acknowledging their efforts to uncover the truth.

But she says that while the port blast commemoration this year was "nice" because of the government’s renewed attention to the issue, she reminds that this wasn’t the case for the past three years.

"I hope by next August we’ll have clarity. If not, we need to be in the six figures in the streets demanding justice.

"It’s not a divisive issue, like weapons outside the state for example, so why aren’t we seeing more momentum around it?" she asks.

Asseily says that the Lebanese should be willing to let go off their political loyalties, stressing that nobody should be above the law.

"Even if my leader or yours must go down, so be it! We can’t keep protecting them."

The Beirut native also hoped the government would build a memorial for the victims at the site of the blast.

In August, Culture Minister Ghassan Salameh said the port’s gutted and partially collapsed wheat silos would be included on a list of historic buildings. Victims' families have long demanded their preservation as a memorial of the catastrophe.

A portion of the southern block of the silos still stands. They’ve been transformed into a physical symbol of the blast’s devastation, but also of gross government negligence, public memory, and a demand for justice.