Beirut blast led many to leave Lebanon, now Catholics say pope's visit brings hope

The Beirut port explosion and the economic collapse that followed led some Maronite Catholics to leave Lebanon. Pope Leo's Lebanon visit has renewed hope.

BEIRUT — Holy icons no longer witness Mass at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in the Lebanese capital and there are no pews five years after an explosion in the main port sent a devastating shock wave through the city.

While new slabs of white marble have replaced the old floor and the walls are freshly painted, the Rev. Miled Abboud is hopeful that Pope Leo XIV’s visit to the blast site Tuesday will highlight the amount of rebuilding that still needs to be done. He also believes Leo's visit will bring “a message of hope” and reconciliation between Lebanon’s diverse Christian communities — a large number of whom have left in recent years — and coexistence with the majority Muslim population.

“The pope’s visit is a sign of hope,” Abboud told NBC News on Saturday. “There are a lot of bleak things, of things that make us despair, but we have Christ who gives us strength to carry on.”

Abboud, who said he had only been a priest at this Maronite church for a few months, added that he hoped to restore it to its former glory to inspire the local community, although many younger members of his congregation have left the city or country altogether, largely because of the dire economy.

“The majority of young people have moved to other regions or to the Gulf, to Europe, to France, because we have a lot of French universities here, so once they finish their studies, people move to France,” he said.