As the conflict in Lebanon continues and negotiations struggle, the president seeks support from the "spiritual father" of the Lebanese.

On Thursday, August 20, Pope Leo XIV will receive Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in a visit to the Vatican. The president welcomed the Pope to the Land of the Cedar in December 2025. This meeting, announced by the Holy See, takes on particular significance against the backdrop of difficult negotiations between Israel and Lebanon, while the south of the country continues to suffer deadly Israeli strikes.

The Holy See Press Office stated on August 17 that President Aoun will arrive at 9.30 am at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. This will be his third visit to the Vatican, following his attendance at the installation Mass for Pope Leo XIV on May 18, 2025, in St Peter’s Square, and his visit June 13 of that year, during which he was able to hold private talks with the Pontiff and officials from the Secretariat of State.

According to the press release issued at the time, both sides had hope for "a new era" of political harmony and economic recovery, and mentioned Lebanon's special role as a beacon of interfaith coexistence.

Several popes have referred to Lebanon not just as a county, but as a "message."

The year 2025 was also marked by the Pope’s visit to Lebanon, from November 30 to December 2, at the end of his first apostolic journey, which had first taken him to Turkey for the commemoration of the Council of Nicaea. As the Pope was leaving, Aoun called on Leo XIV to keep the Lebanese people in his prayers, describing them as a people of faith who “refuse to surrender or die” and who have chosen to resist “through love and peace.”

He remarked that the Lebanese were not bidding farewell to a mere guest of honor, but to “a father who had come to comfort us” and to remind them that the world had not forgotten Lebanon.

Having come to power on January 9, 2025, after more than two years without a president, Aoun, a former commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, enjoys the support of the international community. In particular, he was received by US President Donald Trump on July 21 at the White House, where he was assured of Washington’s support for Lebanese sovereignty. He nevertheless faces domestic challenges due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

Direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon began in the spring and were subsequently formalized by a framework agreement concluded under US mediation on June 26. This agreement provides for the gradual disarmament of Hezbollah, the deployment of the Lebanese army in the south and, in parallel, a gradual Israeli withdrawal from that area. 

A new round of talks – the seventh since the process began – took place in Rome from August 4 to 6. It focused in particular on the terms of the Israeli withdrawal, border disputes, and the establishment of an international mechanism to verify Hezbollah’s disarmament, but concluded without any decisive progress. Beirut is insisting first and foremost on an Israeli withdrawal and a lasting ceasefire, while Israel regards the disarmament of Hezbollah as a precondition for any withdrawal from southern Lebanon.

The situation became even more tense over the weekend. On Saturday, August 15, Israeli strikes on two villages in southern Lebanon left at least 11 people dead, including three children, in the deadliest attack since the June 20 truce.

Against this backdrop, President Aoun is calling for the maintenance of an international peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon. “Our first choice is the extension of UNIFIL’s mandate” (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon)," he stated on Monday during a meeting with MPs. His visit to the Vatican is therefore part of the diplomatic negotiations underway to preserve the territorial integrity of Lebanon.

In a message issued on April 7, the Pope expressed “his paternal closeness and affection” to the Christians of southern Lebanon. Addressing in particular the inhabitants of Debel, a village then surrounded by the Israeli army, the Pope expressed the hope that “despite feelings of sorrow, anguish and mourning,” the Lebanese faithful might experience “deep joy” in celebrating the resurrection of Jesus.

“In your misfortune, in the injustice you are suffering, in the sense of abandonment you feel, you are very close to Jesus,” Cardinal Parolin wrote on behalf of Leo XIV. By rising from the dead, God had “conquered the forces of evil,” he assured them, bestowing his apostolic blessing upon the inhabitants of that village.