VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As Israel continued its airstrikes on nuclear sites in Iran, and Iran launched drones to retaliate, Pope Leo XIV welcomed Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to the Vatican.
The Vatican press office did not provide information about the pope's meeting with the president June 13, although Vatican Media did release video images of select moments of the meeting.
After his audience with Pope Leo, President Aoun -- a Maronite Catholic -- met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state.
During the discussions in the Secretariat of State, the press office said, the hope was expressed that Lebanon, "through the process of stabilization and reforms, will experience a new season of political concord and economic recovery, enabling it to strengthen its ideals of coexistence among faiths and the promotion of development."
"Finally, the necessary and imperative need to foster the pacification of the entire Middle East region was addressed," the press office said.
The unrest in the Middle East includes ongoing tensions between Israel and Hamas, which continues to hold Israeli hostages; uncertainty about the future in Syria; and continuing violence in Yemen. But then Israel launched airstrikes June 13 on numerous sites in Iran related to its nuclear program. Iran responded by setting off drone attacks on Israel, and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, threatened an even stronger response.
While the airstrikes continued, Pope Leo welcomed President Aoun to the library of the Apostolic Palace wearing a red stole and mozzetta, reviving a customary dress code for receiving Catholic heads of state. Pope Francis did not observe that diplomatic protocol.
While the pope initially greeted the president in French, the two switched quickly to English.
The Vatican Media video clip included the exchange of gifts between the president and pope.
When Nehmat Aoun, the president's wife, explained that a sculpture was of the famous Lebanese St. Charbel, Pope Leo responded by speaking about the Lebanese Catholic community in his former diocese, Chiclayo, Peru, and their devotion to the saint.
The president also gave the pope a reliquary in the shape of a cedar, Lebanon's national tree, holding the relics of St. Charbel and three other Lebanese saints.
Pope Leo gave the president a bas-relief medallion, a copy of Pope Francis' message for World Peace Day 2025 and a book featuring the art in the Apostolic Palace and papal apartments.
