Massive appeal for Pope’s peace message amid fears of fresh war in Lebanon
Filipina migrant Loren Capobres spoke with Reuters in Beirut on December 2, 2025, recalling how the moment she kissed Pope Leo’s hand left the world seemingly frozen for her. Yet she hopes his call for peace will linger after his visit, shaping better conditions for migrants and contributing to a durable calm in the country.
Capobres, a Catholic who has lived and worked in Lebanon for 17 years, met the pope during his first international trip as pontiff, a trip he undertook alongside priests and other church volunteers. The pope urged leaders in the Middle East to reject the horrors of war.
She joined more than 170,000 migrant workers in Lebanon who rely on stable, humane conditions and safe work environments to support their families back home. Capobres shared a stark memory from last year’s fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, when migrants were turned away from shelters meant for Lebanese civilians fleeing intense Israeli airstrikes.
“Migrants like me aren’t just workers. We’re coworkers. We contribute to this country. We help, we build,” Capobres said.
A lasting impact in a fragile moment
As Leo’s visit ends, Lebanon faces the real danger of renewed conflict. Israeli strikes have claimed civilian lives since a truce in 2024, with a strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs last month widely viewed as a warning sign of potential escalation.
Capobres hopes the pope’s peace efforts will take hold and that Lebanese authorities will listen.
“I hope the pope’s words will influence those responsible here in Lebanon. And, of course, I pray for peace,” she told Reuters.
During last year’s hostilities, Capobres’s church served as a shelter for migrants and refugees. She helped care for the displaced even as she remained a refugee herself, explaining, “At the same time, I’m a refugee. At the same time, I’m helping.”
Pope Leo emphasized after meeting Capobres that stories like hers “invite us to take a stand to ensure that no one else will have to flee their country because of senseless and cruel conflicts.”
A message to stand strong
Capobres noted the personal stakes for migrants who fear losing the chance to return home if the region again erupts into war.
“So we can go home, but we cannot come back. Yet I must work,” she said, describing the tension many migrants feel.
Her peers and even some employers reached out to congratulate her after she spoke with the pope, and Capobres said she hopes her testimony will empower fellow migrants to raise their voices.
When she finally kissed the pope’s hand, she recalls in tears that she felt the world stop, and she carries a lasting impression of his guidance: “Be strong.”
Reporting by Catherine Cartier; Editing by Maya Gebeily and Alex Richardson
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