Pope Leo XIV Receives Lebanese President Joseph Aoun

Pope Leo XIV received Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the Vatican on Thursday, August 20. The meeting focused on the situation in southern Lebanon amid ongoing Israeli strikes. According to a center right source, the discussions centered on the framework agreement signed on June 26 by the United States, Israel, and Lebanon to stabilize the southern border. President Aoun requested Vatican assistance in ending Israeli attacks and securing the withdrawal of IDF forces from occupied areas in southern Lebanon to allow for reconstruction and the return of displaced persons. Aoun also emphasized the need for the authority of Beirut to extend over the entire territory and for the state to have exclusive competence over decisions of war and peace, which the center right source identifies as a reference to the disarmament of Hezbollah.

While a center source framed the meeting as a discussion on the current situation in southern Lebanon, a center right source framed the event as part of a broader Vatican diplomatic effort for peace. This broader context includes the announcement that Monsignor Paul Richard Gallagher will travel to Moscow to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Serghei Lavrov. This visit, scheduled through August 28, follows a recent trip to Ukraine and aims to maintain open diplomatic channels regarding international issues, including the war in Ukraine.