Pope Leo XIV’s recent visit to Lebanon lived up to expectations: a landmark moment urging Lebanese people to put aside internal strife and embrace the promise of peace. The visit produced immediate tangible results and set the stage for ongoing peace efforts.

The Pope came with a critical mission that drew the attention of both Lebanon and the global community. He brought a message of peace, reaching out even to those who are skeptical or resistant. His goal was to strengthen Christians’ faith and uphold Lebanon’s model of coexistence.

On the political and diplomatic front, the visit acted as a unifying platform across religions, directly challenging political and religious leaders and opening informal backchannels for peace talks. On a symbolic level, the visit sparked widespread public support for peace, boosted the legitimacy of Lebanon’s coexistence model, and highlighted national wounds as portrayed by the Beirut port explosion.

Socially, it empowered youth and civil society and gave support to the Christian community, which has seen some of its brightest young minds leaving in search of safety and opportunities limited in Lebanon to cronies and a clientelist system.

The impact of the visit on peace in Lebanon is multi-layered and points toward a hopeful future. The global attention and moral weight the visit brought serve as a “shield,” increasing the political price for anyone trying to reignite conflict. By addressing youth directly, the Pope strengthened local groups advocating peace over sectarian divides, building social pressure on political leaders. Importantly, the Pope mentioned talks with international leaders about Lebanon’s peace, signaling the Vatican’s commitment to using its influence to facilitate indirect diplomacy—a crucial approach given the stalemate in official channels.

While the visit didn’t tackle the core political issues driving the conflict — like Hezbollah’s weapons or implementing past agreements — and despite Israeli drone activity resuming immediately after, the unity and hospitality shown during the visit offered a hopeful vision of Lebanon’s future.

Pope Leo XIV’s visit was a masterclass in soft power and pastoral diplomacy, successfully reshaping the world’s image of Lebanon from a failed state to a resilient society and providing a powerful national rallying point for peace.

Its real value lies in changing the environment for peace efforts — empowering civil society, supporting quiet diplomacy away from demagogy, and reminding the world of the human cost of inaction.

The real test now is whether Lebanon’s political leaders and the international community seize this moment and turn this moral momentum into the tough political compromises needed for lasting stability.

This visit marks the start of a carefully coordinated international and Arab push toward Lebanon, along with internal momentum toward political reforms and reconstruction.

This push fits into the broader international goal of ending the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and changing Lebanon’s reality. Led regionally by Egypt, Qatar, and Oman, and internationally by the United States and France, the effort aims to “cleanse” southern Lebanon of "Hezbollah’s" arms and supporters, effectively preventing the use of those weapons rather than just demanding disarmament.