By Vatican News staff reporter —  Lebanese President Michel Aoun met with Pope Francis in the Vatican on Monday. The roughly 30-minute meeting highlighted the good diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Lebanon, which are marking their 75th anniversary this year. A statement from the Holy See Press Office said the talks were “cordial”, adding that the two leaders discussed various interests of common concern. “Attention turned to the grave socio-economic problems the country is experiencing, and the situation of refugees, in the hope that the aid of the international community, the upcoming legislative elections, and the necessary reforms may contribute to strengthening peaceful co-existence between the various religious confessions that live in the Land of the Cedars.”

During the private audience, Pope Francis gave the Lebanese president, whose six-year presidential term ends on Oct. 31, a bronze plaque depicting an angel embracing the two hemispheres of the world, overcoming the opposition of a dragon, with the inscription “A world of solidarity and peace founded on justice.” In return, Aoun gave the pope a copy of a Book of Psalms from 1600 and honey produced in the gardens of the Presidential Palace in Baabda, western Lebanon.

The Pope and the Lebanese President also touched on the “disastrous consequences” of the Port of Beirut explosion on 4 August 2020, especially making reference to the “demand for justice and truth expressed by the families of the victims.” President Aoun met separately with Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Vatican Secretary for Relations with States.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that the gift confirmed the biblical description of the country as ”the land of pure honey.” The state-owned news agency said that the pope told the president that he intended to make a long-awaited trip to Lebanon. “Soon I will visit Lebanon. This is a decision I have taken, because Lebanon remains, despite anything, a model for the world,” the pope said, according to the agency. The first pope to visit Lebanon was Paul VI, who stopped off on the way to India in 1964. The m