BREAKING Pope Leo XIV Lands Safely in Rome Following His Successful 1st Apostolic Journey to Turkiye and Lebanon

Vatican News released that the papal plane carrying the Pope landed at Rome's Fiumicino Airport at 3:57 p.m. on December 2nd, 2025. It had taken off from Beirut at 1:48 p.m. local time. Before departing, he delivered a farewell address in which he greeted the Land of the Cedars. The trip, with its first stops in Turkey and Lebanon, had begun on November 27.

Pope Leo XIV's historic first apostolic journey has concluded. The Ita Airways Airbus A320neo from Beirut, carrying the Pope, landed in Rome at Fiumicino Airport at 3:57 p.m., after taking off at 1:48 p.m., Lebanese local time.

The takeoff took place after the farewell ceremony, during which, in a brief speech, the Pope reviewed some of the highlights of his stay in Lebanon and expressed his desire for peace, calling for an end to hostilities in the Middle East.

Pope Leo XIV arrived in Lebanon on Sunday, November 30, after traveling to Turkey on November 27 for the 1700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea. Among the most significant events of his visit were his tour on Monday of the tomb of St. Charbel Makhlof at the Monastery of St. Maron in Annaya, an ecumenical and interfaith meeting in Beirut, and a meeting with young people in Bkerké. Today he visited the Hospital de la Croix in Jal ed Dib, run by the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Cross. He then led a silent prayer at the port of Beirut, the site of the two explosions on August 4, 2020, which killed more than 200 people and left 300,000 homeless. He also celebrated Mass on the Beirut waterfront, a coastal area between the marina and the city center.
Immediately after his departure, according to the Holy See Press Office, Pope Leo XIV sent a telegram to the President of the Lebanese Republic, Joseph Aoun, in which he expressed his gratitude "to the authorities and people of Lebanon for the warm welcome and kind hospitality shown" during his visit and assured them of his prayers "for the peace, unity and prosperity of the nation."
During his flyover of the island of Cyprus, the Pope also sent a telegram to President Nikos Christodoulides invoking God's blessing upon the people. And while flying over Greece, the Pontiff sent his greetings to President Konstantinos Tasoulas and the entire nation, along with the promise of his prayers "for the well-being of all."

Finally, upon returning to Italy, the Pope wrote to President Sergio Mattarella to greet him. In the telegram to the Head of State, Leo mentions the most significant moments of his apostolic journey to Turkey and Lebanon, where he had the joy of attending "the 1700th anniversary of the first ecumenical council and meeting with Catholics, other Christians, and representatives of different religious communities, as well as with representatives of institutions and civil society, urging everyone toward constructive dialogue and solidarity."