VATICAN CITY -- Marking the one-year anniversary of a deadly explosion in Beirut, Pope Francis said Lebanon needs concrete help — not just words — from the international community so it can emerge once again as a symbol of fraternity and peace for the Middle East.

BEIRUT -- A year after the catastrophic Beirut port blast, the wounds of the people in Lebanon are scarred by the memory of the tragedy, and cries for justice escalate. This year, Aug. 4 was declared a national day of mourning in Lebanon.

BEIRUT -- In a flash, people's lives were forever changed shortly after 6 p.m. Aug. 4. And from the moment after the blast, the driving concern for Maronite Catholic Archbishop Paul Abdel Sater was to be beside the people of his archdiocese in their suffering and to keep them in their homes.

OTTAWA -- Canadians and the Catholic Church in Canada have always been there for the people of Lebanon in times of need, says the Montreal-based Maronite Catholic Bishop Paul-Marwan Tabet.

VATICAN CITY -- After a massive fire triggered a deadly explosion in Beirut, Pope Francis called for prayers and a united effort to help Lebanon overcome "this serious crisis." 

AMMAN, Jordan -- Hospitals in the Lebanese capital are overwhelmed with those suffering injuries from a massive explosion in Beirut's port, causing widespread damage the city and rocking the tiny Mediterranean nation already devastated by the coronavirus and its worst financial crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.

During recent travels in Beirut I met Kamal and his family, Syrian-Armenian Christian refugees. They told a harrowing tale.

BEIRUT - Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, the Vatican nuncio to Lebanon, visited hospitalized victims of twin suicide bombings in Beirut and said Lebanon's "message of co-existence" needs to be preserved, despite the crises the country is enduring.

BEIRUT, Lebanon - A Vatican official who just returned from a visit to Syria said "the humanitarian situation is worse than I thought."

BEIRUT - Church leaders in northern Iraq struggled to find shelter for Christians who were among hundreds of thousands who fled Mosul, the country's second-largest city, after Islamist forces took over much of the town, a Chaldean Catholic archbishop said.