Pope Francis met with 30 relatives of victims of the Port of Beirut explosion in a private audience at the Vatican on Monday, expressing his sorrow and closeness with families suffering due to the ongoing political turmoil in Lebanon.  

“I continue to keep you and your loved ones in my prayers, and I join my tears to your own,” the Holy Father shared. “Together with you, I think of all those whose lives were taken by that enormous explosion.”

Four years since the deadly blast that killed more than 220 people and injured some 6,500 people in the country’s capital, investigations into the actual cause of the explosion remain stalled due to political wrangling.

“Together with you, I ask for truth and justice. All of us know that the issues are complex and difficult and that opposing powers and interests make their influence felt. Yet truth and justice must prevail over all else,” the Pope expressed to the families present at the private audience. 

“Four years have now gone by. The Lebanese people, and you above all, have a right to words and actions that manifest responsibility and transparency,” he added.

The Holy Father praised the “dignity of faith” and the “nobility of hope” of the families he met Monday morning, likening their spirit to that of the cedar tree — the symbol of Lebanon. 

“Cedars invite us to lift our gaze on high, to heaven, to God, who is our hope, a hope that does not disappoint,” he said.

He also encouraged them to uphold and live their vocation to be people of peace in the Middle East.

“Lebanon is, and must remain, a project for peace. Its vocation is to be a land where diverse communities live together in concord, setting the common good above individual advantage, a land where different religions and confessions encounter one another in a spirit of fraternity,” he said.

The Pope also reminded the families present that the local and universal Church is not indifferent to their sufferings but is united to them in action and in prayer.

“I know that your Bishops and priests, your men and women religious, are close to you. I thank them from the bottom of my heart for all that they have done and continue to do,” he conveyed. 

“You are not alone, and we will never abandon you but express our solidarity with you through prayer and concrete works of charity.”

At the conclusion of the meeting, Pope Francis imparted his paternal blessings and entrusted the care of the families to Our Lady of Lebanon.

“May the Virgin Mary from her shrine in Harissa continue to watch over you and all the Lebanese people. I cordially impart my blessing. I assure you of my prayers, and I ask you, please, to pray for me. Thank you.”