‘Get up!’ Pope prays that Lebanon can get back on its feet

By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis says he’s praying that God will help Lebanon “get up” and get back on its feet following an unprecedented economic crisis that has thrown three quarters of the country’s 6 million people including a million Syrian refugees into poverty. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati met privately with Francis for about 20 minutes Thursday. He gave him a tile from a 19th century Beirut church that was seriously damaged in the August 2020 port explosion that killed 216 people and injured more than 6,000.At the end of the audience, Francis invited Mikati and the Lebanese delegation to observe a minute of silence and prayer, the Vatican said.