Your Holiness Pope Leo XIV, with utmost respect,
Distinguished audience,
Peace, mercy, and blessings be upon you.

It is with great pleasure, in this gathering, that we welcome you in Lebanon on behalf of the Higher Islamic Shiite Council and the Shiite community as a whole. We deeply appreciate your visit to our country and value your positions during this difficult phase Lebanon is passing through.

We greet you with the greeting of Islam, which believes in Jesus Christ, peace be upon him, as a messenger, a prophet, a bearer of good tidings, and a guide.

We also extend to you warm greetings from wounded Lebanon, a country that the Apostolic See in the Vatican has long considered not merely a nation, but a message, and never a country at the margins of history.

From this perspective, our hope is immense that your visit will carry every opportunity for success and will contribute to strengthening the shaken national unity of this nation, burdened with wounds caused by the ongoing Israeli aggression against its people and land.

Our spiritual culture is rooted in human brotherhood, inspired by the principles of Islam, which recognizes no distinction among people. As our noble Prophet Muhammad ibn Abdullah said: “No Arab has superiority over a non-Arab except in piety.”

We also draw from the thought of his successor, Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, who described the nature of human relations in his profoundly humane statement: “People are of two kinds: either your brothers in faith or your equals in creation.”

We consider ourselves brothers in faith and equals in creation. We make no distinction among human beings except by virtue of piety. Difference is intrinsic to humankind, and the relationship between those who differ must be governed by dialogue, understanding, and cooperation in righteousness and piety. Peaceful coexistence among followers of different religions is the rule, “the foundation”, whereas the wars waged falsely in the name of religion do not reflect the true essence of faith, which begins with the sanctity and dignity of the human being.

We believe firmly in the necessity of the state. Yet, in its absence, we were compelled to defend ourselves and resist the occupation that invaded our land. We are not seekers of conflict, nor do we take up arms out of desire or inclination, nor do we willingly sacrifice our sons.

Based on all this, we place the cause of Lebanon in your hands, along with the international capabilities and influence you possess, in the hope that the world may assist our country in overcoming its accumulated crises, foremost among them the Israeli aggression and all the consequences it has inflicted and continues to inflict on our homeland and our people.

Peace, mercy, and blessings be upon you.