VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo XIV is embarking on his first foreign trip, a pilgrimage to Turkiye and Lebanon that would be delicate under any circumstances but is even more fraught given Mideast tensions and the media glare that will document history’s first American pope on the road. Leo is fulfilling a trip Pope Francis planned to make, to mark an important anniversary with the Orthodox church in Turkiye. In Lebanon, he’ll try to boost a long-suffering Christian community as well as Lebanese of all faiths who are still demanding justice over the 2020 Beirut port blast.

VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo XIV is embarking on his first foreign trip, a pilgrimage to Turkiye and Lebanon that would be delicate under any circumstances but is even more fraught…

Pope Leo XIV has picked war-torn Lebanon as part of his first official trip abroad, aiming to call for unity and help preserve the country.