When Pope Leo XIV landed in Lebanon he echoed the words of Pope John Paul II, “Lebanon is a Message”. In this EWTN News special, Colm Flynn travels to Lebanon to learn about the historical pressures faced by its Christians, as well as how they live today in one of the Middle East’s most complex societies.
Speaking to major religious and political figures, as well as the ordinary Lebanese people, we hear first hand how war, economic crises, corruption, and emigration have decimated the country. In various interviews Flynn examines the slogan that Lebanon is a message, speaking to those who believe it to be a living reality, and those who see it as a dream that may never be reached.
Filmed during the visit of Pope Leo, the programme also talks to the youth of the country, and meets inspiring young Lebanese Christians who are taking the future into their own hands.
0:00 – Opening: Lebanon under fire
0:26 – Welcome to Lebanon & Our Lady of Lebanon
1:07 – Can Christians and Muslims coexist?
2:33 – War, collapse, and the roots of Lebanese faith
3:04 – Who is St. Charbel? Monk, hermit, intercessor
5:16 – Early Christianity and the Maronite Church
6:12 – Bishop Michel: Lebanon as a Christian–Muslim “message”
9:22 – Pope Leo meets Muslim leaders & coexistence ideal
13:28 – “We’re tired”: Emigration and disillusionment
23:00 – Young Muslims react to the Pope’s arrival
24:09 – “They should all burn in hell”: Professor Roula on corruption
29:42 – Hezbollah, power, and a fragile state
32:00 – The Beirut port explosion: a nation shattered
33:16 – Joseph the firefighter: a brother’s sacrifice
39:06 – Life as a Christian in Zahle: beauty and hardship
41:12 – Addiction, orphans, and a rehabilitation center
43:20 – Lebanon’s political “mosaic” and rising Hezbollah influence
51:07 – Pope Leo’s youth rally: “You are the present”
52:58 – Amal’s blindness, journalism, and carrying the cross
55:02 – Young Christians stay, build media, and keep St. Charbel’s flame