Photos show Christian landmarks in Lebanon ahead of the pope’s visit

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon is a country where crosses rise from mountaintops, rooftops and street corners, and Christian symbols are woven into everyday life. The upcoming visit of Pope Leo XIV highlights the depth of Christianity’s roots in this small Mediterranean nation, dating to the earliest days of the faith.

From Mount Lebanon’s peaks to the coastal plain, ancient sites sit beside modern life, reflecting a landscape shaped by centuries of Christian presence. Lebanon’s mosaic of 18 sects — including 12 Christian ones — makes it one of the region’s most diverse societies, with a Maronite Christian traditionally serving as president.

Christianity reached Lebanon in the first century, with the New Testament recounting Jesus’ visits to Sidon and Tyre. In the north, the Qadisha Valley sheltered some of the earliest monastic communities, carved into cliffs that still overlook the gorge. Pilgrims today continue to visit major sites such as the shrine of St. Charbel in Annaya and the hilltop shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa, which draws both Christians and Muslims seeking blessing and comfort.

Lebanese Christians, like the rest of the population, have endured years of economic collapse, political paralysis and conflict — most recently last year’s war between Israel and Hezbollah. While many see the pope’s visit as a rare moment of hope, Christians in the south are disappointed he won’t visit their region.

Southern Lebanon is home to important Christian sites, including Qana, where tradition holds that Jesus performed his first miracle, and the sanctuary of Our Lady of Waiting in Maghdousheh, believed to be where Mary waited while Jesus traveled nearby.

For many Lebanese Christians, these places reflect a long struggle to preserve identity through crisis and war. As Lebanon prepares to welcome the pope, many hope his visit brings a sense of unity, recognition and solace to a weary nation.

This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

Rosaries and crosses hang from a car's rearview mirror as buildings and church towers rise in the background in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A cross glows on a hillside above residential buildings at dusk in the coastal town of Jounieh, north of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Religious souvenirs displayed for sale at a shop at the site that local tradition identifies as the location of Jesus' first miracle, turning water into wine, in the southern Lebanese village of Qana near the border with Israel, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A girl gestures as her family attends Sunday Mass inside a room usually used as a residence for visiting bishops next to St. George Melkite Catholic Church, which was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike, in the town of Dardghaya, southern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A woman prays inside the cave shrine of Our Lady of Waiting, Saydet al-Mantra, which local tradition identifies as the place where Mary waited for Jesus as he traveled through the nearby cities of Sidon and Tyre, where he answered a mother's plea to heal her daughter, at the southern village of Maghdouche, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A man lights candles inside a cave that local tradition identifies as the site of Jesus Christ's first miracle, turning water into wine at a wedding feast, in the southern Lebanese village of Qana near the border with Israel, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A man stands at the entrance of a cave that local tradition identifies as the site of Jesus Christ's first miracle, turning water into wine at a wedding feast, in the southern Lebanese village of Qana near the border with Israel, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A cross stands on a cliff overlooking the Kadisha Valley, a holy site for Lebanon's Maronite Christians, near the northeast mountain town of Bcharre, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Large water jugs are stacked beside a statue of the Virgin Mary in the corner of a building in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Icons hang on the remaining walls of St. George Melkite Catholic Church, which was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike, in the town of Dardghaya, southern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Pilgrims attend Mass in the church inside St. Charbel's monastery in the northern village of Annaya, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Clouds hang low over the mountain village of Bcharre, home to several historic churches and monasteries in northern Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Pilgrims visit the tomb of St. Charbel inside the monastery in the northern village of Annaya, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Religious statues and nativity figures are displayed for sale outside a workshop in the northeast mountain town of Kousba, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A worshipper makes the sign of the cross while wearing several crucifixes around his neck at the shrine of St. Charbel in the northern village of Annaya, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A worshipper touches a wooden crucifix inside the shrine of St. Charbel in the northern village of Annaya, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A worshipper kisses the statue of St. Charbel, a 19th-century Maronite monk, at his shrine in the northern village of Annaya, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Pilgrims light candles at the Our Lady of Lebanon shrine in Harissa, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A Muslim family poses for a photo next to a statue of St. Charbel at the Our Lady of Lebanon shrine in Harissa, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Pilgrims visit and pray around the grounds of the Our Lady of Lebanon shrine in Harissa, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Pilgrims pray at the feet of a shrine to the Virgin Mary in Harissa east Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Worshippers attend Sunday Mass inside a room usually used as a residence for visiting bishops next to St. George Melkite Catholic Church, which was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike, in the town of Dardghaya, southern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Priest Maurice El Khoury, left, leads Sunday Mass inside a room usually used as a residence for visiting bishops next to St. George Melkite Catholic Church, which was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike, in the town of Dardghaya, southern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Cars speed past a roadside statue depicting the Virgin Mary holding the body of Jesus, in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

The sun sets behind the dome of the Melkite Greek Catholic Basilica of Saint Paul in Harissa, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump had another medical exam on Tuesday, putting his health under renewed public scrutiny as he has worked to dismiss concerns over his age and stamina.

The 79-year-old president spent more than three hours at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for what the White House described as preventive medical and dental checkups. It was Trump's fourth publicly disclosed medical exam since he returned to office for a second term, and it comes as he tries to project strength ahead of midterm elections that will test his sway with voters.

In a social media post after the visit, Trump said that he had just finished his “6 month physical” and that “Everything checked out PERFECTLY.”

For decades, administrations have released selected results from presidential physicals, offering the public a glimpse at the commander-in-chief’s health. But the results are filtered through the White House and must be approved by the president, raising questions about what the public does and doesn't get to see.

Trump, a Republican, turns 80 next month and was the oldest person elected U.S. president. His immediate predecessor, President Joe Biden, a Democrat, was 82 when he left office, dropping out of the 2024 presidential race because of widespread concerns he was too old for the job.

A Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted in April found that less than half of U.S. adults think Trump has the mental sharpness or physical health to serve effectively as president.

“I think concern for the president’s physical health is probably at an all-time high, and I think advanced physical age is the No. 1 concern,” said Dr. Jeffrey Kuhlman, who served as a White House physician for more than a decade under Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

For a president of Trump’s age, a complete physical would be expected to include advanced heart testing, screening for common cancers and a cognitive assessment, along with basics like height, weight and blood pressure, Kuhlman said.

The White House has not disclosed what the visit entailed but expressed confidence in what it will show.

“President Trump is the sharpest and most accessible President in American history who is working nonstop to solve problems and deliver on his promises, and he remains in excellent health,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said in a statement.

In the weeks leading up to his visit, Trump has been saying he feels as good as he did five decades ago — even as he jokes about his fondness for fast food and his minimal exercise regimen. Yet he’s also sensitive to perceptions about his age, noting that he takes extra caution descending the steps from Air Force One to avoid headlines about a stumble.

There is no law requiring presidents to publicize their health records, and the degree of transparency has varied by administration. Trump’s past reports have been criticized for offering scant detail and providing statistics that some medical experts eyed with skepticism.

At public appearances, Trump is often seen wearing makeup to conceal bruising on his hands, which the White House attributes to handshaking and regular aspirin use. He has sometimes appeared drowsy during meetings and closed his eyes for long stretches, though he denies having fallen asleep.

Trump often boasts of having “aced” cognitive tests while frequently deriding Biden, who faced questions about his mental acuity. Biden and his aides pushed back aggressively against doubts raised about his fitness for office.

Some of Trump’s previous physicals have included the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, used to screen for dementia and cognitive impairment. His physicians reported a score of 30 out of 30 for him at 2018 and 2025 checkups.

Yet critics have pointed to Trump’s meandering speeches and sometimes bellicose rhetoric as evidence of cognitive decline.

Last month, a statement from more than 30 neurologists, psychiatrists and other medical experts — who acknowledged they’ve never examined him — said Trump was mentally unfit to serve and warned of an “increasingly dangerous decline” in his behavior based on what they called “objectively observable signs of serious medical concern.″

“Any so-called medical professionals engaging in armchair diagnosis or false speculation for political purposes are clearly breaking the Hippocratic Oath they’ve sworn to,” Ingle said.

Just like any other patient, presidents get to choose what’s disclosed about their health, said Sara Rosenthal, a bioethicist at the University of Kentucky who studies presidential health. Questions about transparency have become more acute as America elects aging presidents like Trump and Biden, she said.

“I think we can expect very little disclosure about the true health status of any president unless they’re in perfect health,” said Rosenthal, who has suggested an independent medical organization to review and report on the health of the president and those in the line of succession.

Trump's first medical report in his second term was released last April. In July, he was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a common condition in older adults that causes blood to pool in his veins. Photographs have shown the president with swollen feet, ankles and calves, described by the White House as a symptom of chronic venous insufficiency leading to “mild swelling” in his lower legs.

Following his last publicly disclosed exam, described as a routine follow-up last October, Trump’s physician issued a one-page summary saying the president was in “exceptional health” without divulging many specific results.

The frequency of Trump's medical checkups is not uncommon for someone his age, according to S. Jay Olshansky of the University of Illinois-Chicago, who has studied the health of past presidents. It's part of a strategy to catch problems while they’re still treatable, Olshansky said.

Olshansky says the public deserves to see more than White House medical summaries that “may be subject to editorial discretion.” Full, unredacted medical records should be made public, he said: “Nothing should be hidden.”

President Donald Trump departs Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Tuesday, May 26, 2026, in Bethesda, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

FILE - The left foot and swollen ankle of President Donald Trump are pictured as he sits with Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa in the Oval Office of the White House, July 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One, Friday, May 15, 2026, at Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

President Donald Trump's right hand is seen as he speaks to the press after returning and stepping off Air Force One, Wednesday, May 20, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md., after speaking at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy commencement. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Donald Trump walks down the stairs of Air Force One upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Friday, Nov. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)

CORRECTS DATE - President Donald Trump sits at the back of the presidential limousine as it drives outside the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center from the White House, Tuesday, May 26, 2026 in Bethesda, Md. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)