With a silent march, moving testimonies, and the symbolic planting of 75 trees in honor of the victims, Lebanon commemorated on Aug. 4 the fifth anniversary of the devastating explosion that rocked Beirut’s port in 2020, leaving 245 dead and 6,000 injured.
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A day marked by tears, prayer, and remembrance of all those killed and injured also became a cry of hope in the midst of a prolonged crisis.
Pope Leo XIV extended his closeness to the Lebanese people through a message — as is customary in such cases — signed by Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin. In the text, the pontiff said that “Christ’s tears are joined with our own in the face of the loss and suffering of our loved ones.”
The pope thus wished to express “his compassion for all those whose hearts are wounded or who have lost everything due to this catastrophe.”
“Beloved and suffering Lebanon remains at the center of our prayers,” he said in the message read on Sunday evening, Aug. 3, at the vigil held in Beirut and presided over by the apostolic nuncio to Lebanon, Archbishop Paolo Borgia, according to Vatican News.
Speaking to Vatican News, the nuncio described it as a “deeply moving” moment.
The commemoration took place in Karantina in the square in front of Our Lady of Deliverance Church, one of the hardest-hit areas near the port, where the greatest number of rescue operations were concentrated in the hours following the explosion.
“There was a moment of prayer during which the families of victims and the injured came together. There were also some testimonies, followed by a silent march to a garden along the road to the port, where in recent days 75 trees bearing the names of victims were planted. More will be planted in the future,” Borgia explained. Furthermore, Lebanese Minister of Culture Ghassan Salamé announced that the silo that exploded on Aug. 4, 2020, has now been listed as a historical monument of the country.
“The wounds from that tragic explosion still run deep,” the apostolic nuncio noted. “Six thousand 500 people were treated in Beirut’s hospitals, the chaos, the dead on the streets — it’s all still vivid in the memory of the Lebanese people.”
During the interview, Borgia recalled the conversation Pope Francis had with the victims’ families last year. During that meeting, held at the Vatican, the pontiff called for justice and truth for the families who have been demanding it for years. On that occasion, the Holy Father stated that it was a “complicated and thorny” issue.
According to the apostolic nuncio, “there are conflicting interests at play, but truth and justice must prevail above all else.”
“Today, however, there’s a bit more hope. Some steps are being taken in the investigation phase,” the nuncio stated. In any case, the investigation is in its preliminary phase, and the deadly explosion has “no clear cause or explanation.”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
