The Rev. Issam Ibrahim remembers when citrus orchards surrounded Mar Youssef Maronite church in a southern suburb of Beirut. Now, after the decades of conflict and economic strife that followed the Lebanese civil war, the area Christians left and Lebanese Shiites, a core base of support for Hezbollah, the sprawling political and military group, moved in.

Now, the pews fill up mostly for funerals, said Ibrahim, the area’s parish priest. And when parishioners enter the church hall, they’re greeted not only by a photo of Pope Leo XIV but also, through a window, by a giant mosaic of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hezbollah’s main sponsor.

A diminished community

Leo arrived in Beirut Sunday as part of his first international trip as pope, a five-day

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