Hezbollah welcomed Pope Leo XIV with a statement filled with complaints about Israel, as the pontiff is expected to travel to Lebanon on Sunday after his visit to Turkey concludes.
The Islamist group claimed “Lebanon, with its diverse composition, represents a civilizational link between the followers of the two Abrahamic faiths, Christianity and Islam, and between the followers of religious, cultural, and secular trends in every country and continent of the world.”
After years of persecution, there are estimated to be only a hundred Jews remaining in the country who practice their faith covertly in Beirut.
Hezbollah, who were found to have murdered a Christian politician who criticized the group, claimed, “The conflicts the world is witnessing today stem, at their root, from the refusal of some to acknowledge or respect the rights of others, whether due to differences in religion, color, race, language, or other factors.”
Christian Lebanese politician Elias Hasrouni was assassinated by the Islamist terror group in 2023, the IDF proved in November. Another member of the Christian Lebanese Forces party, Pascal Sleiman, was kidnapped and killed in the Byblos District of northern Lebanon in April last year.
Hezbollah claimed that respect for human rights was in decline, claiming many were “resorting to force instead of resorting to justice.” The terror group, which began launching rockets at Israeli civilian communities in solidarity with Hamas on October 8, 2023, pointed to Israel’s war in Gaza as an example of said decline.
Hezbollah calls Gaza war genocide in statement welcoming pope to Lebanon
“The tragedy that Gaza in occupied Palestine witnessed during the past two years, and continues to witness, is a tragedy resulting from the Zionist occupiers' persistence in usurping the rights of the Palestinian people to their land, their homeland, and their right to self-determination,” Hezbollah claimed, while complaining about “the international system's refusal to adopt the standard of justice and right to find a solution to the ongoing conflict in our region, between the rightful owners of the land and homeland, and the usurping occupier.”
Continuing to point to Israel’s recent conflicts, Hezbollah complained the Lebanese people are experiencing hardships “as a result of the Zionist occupation of parts of their land, and the continuation of its attacks against them and the threat to their security and stability in their country.”
Claiming that Israel is “driven by greed to control their water, land, and gas wealth, and attempting to force the Lebanese to submit to its endless security, expansionist, and political conditions,” Hezbollah claimed that global powers had failed to protect the security of Lebanon.
“What the Israeli enemy did in Gaza against the Palestinian people is a clear act of genocide; What [Israel] is doing in Lebanon is a blatant and unacceptable aggression that we condemn,” the terror group continued.
“We in Hezbollah take this opportunity of your auspicious visit to our country, Lebanon, to reaffirm our commitment to coexistence, to consensual democracy, to maintaining internal security and stability, and to safeguarding national sovereignty by standing with our army and our people to confront any aggression or occupation of our land and country,” the group concluded. “We also affirm our legitimate right to reject foreign interference that seeks to impose its tutelage on our country and our people, and to usurp our national decision-making and the powers of our constitutional authorities.”
Pope Leo visits Islamic holy sites during visit to Turkey and receives lukewarm welcome
Pope Leo visited Istanbul's Blue Mosque on Saturday, removing his shoes in a sign of respect but not appearing to pray in his first visit as leader of the Catholic Church to a Muslim place of worship during his four-day visit to Turkey.
The first US pope bowed slightly before entering the mosque and was led on a tour of the expansive complex, able to hold 10,000 worshippers, by its imam and the mufti of Istanbul.
Leo, walking in white socks, smiled during the 20-minute visit and joked with one of his guides, the mosque's lead muezzin - the official who leads the daily calls to prayer.
The Vatican appeared surprised that Leo had not stopped to pray during the visit and that he had not been welcomed to the mosque by the head of Turkey's state-run religious organization, known as the diyanet, as had been planned.
About three hours after the visit, the Vatican released a press statement saying both the prayer and the welcome had occurred, although they had not. The Vatican press office said the release had been sent in error.
Askin Musa Tunca, the muezzin, told journalists after the mosque visit that he asked Leo during the tour if he wished to pray for a moment, but the pope said he preferred to just visit the mosque.
The Vatican said in a statement immediately after the visit that Leo undertook the tour "in a spirit of reflection and listening, with deep respect for the place and for the faith of those who gather there in prayer."
While Leo did not appear to pray during the tour, he did joke with Tunca. As the group was leaving the building, the pope noticed he was being guided out a door that is usually an entryway, where a sign says: "No exit."
"It says no exit," Leo said, smiling. Tunca responded: "You don't have to go out, you can stay here."