Naturalistic Spectacle at Beirut Blast Site Masquerades as Pastoral Care
Vatican News portal (December 2, 2025) reports on antipope Leo XIV’s theatrical appearance at Beirut’s port explosion site, where he engaged in a carefully staged performance of silent prayer and candle lighting before victims’ families. The event commemorated the 2020 ammonium nitrate explosion that killed over 200 people amidst Lebanon’s ongoing economic collapse. Families displayed photographs of deceased relatives while demanding earthly justice, with the antipope offering neither sacramental consolation nor calls to repentance – only empty gestures of human solidarity.









