Lebanon’s president calls on Pope Leo to press for Israeli withdrawal

August 21, 2026

President Joseph Aoun of Lebanon called on Pope Leo XIV to press Israel to abide by a June agreement to withdraw its forces from Lebanon. The Vatican responded by stating that the Holy See has “serious concerns about the difficulties that are being encountered in implementing” the agreement and that it “assured the President of its support for efforts in this regard.”

The president made his appeal during an August 20 audience with the Pontiff and a subsequent meeting with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of His Holiness, and Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations.

In its statement that followed the meetings, President Aoun’s office said that the president “briefed them on the latest developments on the Lebanese scene, and the repeated Israeli aggressions on Lebanese villages, infrastructure, and civilians.”

The statement continued:

During the two meetings, President Aoun extended Lebanon’s thanks to the Holy See for all the efforts it is making to support it since the last visit of the Supreme Pontiff to Lebanon. He then outlined the political, economic, and vital developments that Lebanon has witnessed in the recent period.

President Aoun called on His Holiness the Pope and the officials in the Vatican to continue their diplomatic efforts in all international forums to achieve the Lebanese demands, foremost among which is obligating Israel to implement the provisions of the framework formula, which was signed under the auspices of the United States of America on June 26 of last year, and halting its daily aggressions that particularly target civilians, civilian facilities, infrastructure, and villages in the south.

President Aoun also called on the Holy Father and the Apostolic See to support Lebanon in achieving the complete Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Lebanese territories, paving the way for the reconstruction of what Israel has destroyed, and the return of the displaced to their land and villages. The President of the Republic affirmed that these steps must coincide with the extension of the Lebanese state’s authority over all its territories and the monopoly of the decision of war and peace in its hands, as the sole path to achieving security and stability on the borders.

President Aoun had presented the Holy Father with a bust of the Blessed Patriarch Elias al-Huwayyik, which includes relics of the Blessed.

In its own statement on the meetings, the Holy See Press Office said that the discussions with Cardinal Parolin and Archbishop Gallagher “focused essentially on the Trilateral Framework Agreement, signed by the United States, Israel and Lebanon aimed at stabilizing the southern borders of the Republic of Lebanon and at achieving a just and lasting peace.”

“While expressing satisfaction at the signing of the Document, the Holy See voiced serious concerns about the difficulties that are being encountered in implementing it, and assured the President of its support for efforts in this regard,” the statement concluded.

 

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Further information:

• Statement from the Lebanese president (X, @LBpresidency, 8/20/26)
• Holy See Press Office Press Release: Audience with the President of the Republic of Lebanon (8/20/26)
• Pope Leo XIV meets Lebanese President: seeking a just and lasting peace (Vatican News, 8/20/26)