BEIRUT: Rachelle Mazraani is traveling from Sydney to Beirut for Pope Leo XIV’s visit this week, one of many Lebanese at home and abroad who hope the trip will revive their struggling country.
After visiting Turkiye, Leo is to arrive in Lebanon on Sunday for a three-day trip that includes an open-air mass at Beirut’s waterfront that organizers expect to draw 120,000 people.
He will also hold a special meeting with those aged 16 to 35 in Bkerke, north of Beirut, where the patriarchate of Lebanon’s Maronite Church is located.
“As a young Lebanese woman living abroad, this visit represents a deep reassurance that Lebanon is not forgotten,” the Australian-born Mazraani, 23, who works in sales and marketing, told AFP by telephone.
She is among some 500 young people from church delegations from several countries who will attend the pope’s youth meeting on Monday.
