Is Pope Francis planning to visit Lebanon?
The question arose as a result of the confusion following the official announcement of the visit by the Baabda Palace, which stressed in an official statement that it would take place in June, following a message received by President Aoun from the papal ambassador. The Pope’s visit to Lebanon is still pending.

What exactly happened? The truth is that, as President Aoun announced, the visit will take place in June, in June, after the parliamentary elections, as announced by the Holy See for Relations between States in the Vatican Monsignor Richard Paul Gallagher to the Pope after he felt the extent of the crisis and the shocking numbers of youth emigration during his visit to Lebanon, which prompted the visit.

The issue, then, is not whether the papal visit would take place or not, which has become certain, but rather how Baabda Palace handled it, which has caused resentment among Vatican circles.

According to sources, the protocol requires that the visit be announced on the same day by the Vatican and Lebanon, but the Republican Palace departments were the only ones to do so, giving the Vatican departments the impression that the President of the Republic wants to use the visit for special electoral interests.

It is worth noting that diplomatic sources familiar with the Vatican confirm that the Pope’s foreign visits were never made for the benefit of presidents or officials, but for the benefit of the people.