BEIRUT — BEIRUT (AP) — Pope Leo XIV prayed Tuesday at the site of a deadly 2020 Beirut port explosion that has become a symbol of Lebanon’s dysfunction and official impunity as he offered words of consolation to Lebanon’s people on the final day of his first overseas trip.

Relatives of some of the 218 people killed by the blast held up photos of their loved ones as Leo arrived at the scorched site. They then stood side-by-side as he greeted each one in a line: Leo grasped their hands, spoke to each one and looked at the photos.

The emotional encounter took place next to the shell of the last grain silo standing at the site destroyed by the Aug. 4, 2020 blast and the piles of burned cars torched in its wake. The explosion did billions of dollars in damage as hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate detonated in a warehouse.

Five years on, these families are still seeking justice. No official has been convicted in a judicial investigation that has been repeatedly obstructed, angering Lebanese for whom the blast was just the latest evidence of impunity after decades of corruption and financial crimes.

“The visit clearly sends the message that the explosion was a crime,” said Cecile Roukoz, whose brother Joseph Roukoz was killed and who was on hand to meet the pope. “There should be a message, the country should end impunity and ensure justice is served.”

When he arrived in Lebanon on Sunday, Leo urged the country’s political leaders to pursue the truth as a means of peace and reconciliation.

The American pope opened his final day in Lebanon with an emotional visit to the De La Croix hospital, which specializes in care for people with psychological problems. Awaiting him were some familiar-looking faces: Young boys dressed up as Swiss Guards and cardinals, and even one dressed as the pope himself in all white.

The mother superior of the congregation that runs the hospital, Mother Marie Makhlouf, was overcome as she welcomed the pope, telling him that her hospital cares for the “forgotten souls, burdened by their loneliness.”

Leo said the facility stands as a reminder to all of humanity. “We cannot forget those who are most fragile. We cannot conceive of a society that races ahead at full speed clinging to the false myths of wellbeing, while at the same time ignoring so many situations of poverty and vulnerability,” he said.

Leo was set to end his visit with a Mass at another location along the Beirut waterfront, where he looped through the crowd in his covered popemobile.

Thousands of Lebanese flocked to the Mass site and along his motorcade route, overjoyed that a pope had finally managed to visit. Pope Francis had tried for years to come but was stymied first by its economic and political crises, and then by his own health problems.

“For Lebanon, (the visit) means a lot,” said pilgrim Maggie Claudine, who was waiting for Leo at the hospital. “We hope that peace will prevail, and that is what we wish for. We want to live in comfort.”

Leo has sought to bring a message of peace to Lebanon as it copes with the economic crises, the aftermath of Hezbollah’s devastating war with Israel and the fallout from the port blast.

Among those on hand to welcome Leo at the blast site was Lebanon Social Affairs Minister Haneen Sayed, whose mother was killed. Another was Mireille Khoury, whose 15-year-old son, Elias, was killed.

When Leo approached her, Khoury pointed to the building where they lived across the port, where Elias died as he was hanging out in his room.

Khoury said Lebanon cannot heal from its wounds without justice and accountability. She has been among the relatives who have called for finalizing the investigation that implicated a long list of political, security and judicial officials.

The families have gathered monthly since the explosion to honor the victims and urge the international community to support the probe into the blast, which has been obstructed by officials who have largely refused to cooperate.

“Justice is the basis of building any country,” she told The Associated Press in an interview before the pope arrived in Lebanon. “Our children were killed in their homes. They were killed because someone kept (ammonium) nitrate in the main port of the city near a residential area.”

Khoury said the pope’s prayer and support would bring some relief, but said she would not give up on her pursuit for justice.

“I will not say that this anger will fully just disappear,” Khoury said. “But I think it will give some sort of relaxation of this anger that is in my heart until justice is served.”

The fate of the port’s massive grain silos, which absorbed much of the shock of the explosion, has also been a matter of debate.

The Lebanese government at one point planned to demolish the damaged silos but decided against it after families of the blast’s victims and survivors protested. They have demanded their preservation as a memorial and in case they might contain evidence useful for the judicial probe.

The port, meanwhile, is largely functional again but still hasn’t been fully rebuilt.

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Mroue reported from Jal el-Dib, Lebanon. Associated Press journalist Fadi Tawil in Beirut contributed.

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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

KYIV, Ukraine — Anti-corruption units have raided the home, and reportedly also the office, of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andrii Yermak. The unprecedented searches at the heart of Ukraine’s government come at a time when Kyiv is already under intense US pressure to sign a peace deal.

Two national agencies fighting entrenched corruption in Ukraine said their searches targeted Yermak. Oleksii Tkachuk, a spokesperson for Yermak, said the anti-graft agencies had not served Yermak a notice of suspicion, meaning he was not a suspect in an investigation. Tkachuk added that Yermak had not been told what the searches related to.

Yermak, a powerful figure in Ukraine and a key participant in talks with the United States, confirmed they searched his apartment inside the presidential compound in downtown Kyiv, where checkpoints limit public access. Media reports said Yermak’s office was also searched, but investigators declined to comment on that.

It was not clear where Zelenskyy or Yermak were at the time of the morning raid.

“The investigators are facing no obstacles,” Yermak wrote on the messaging app Telegram. He added that he was cooperating fully with them and his lawyers were present.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office are Ukrainian anti-corruption watchdogs. They are currently leading a major investigation into a $100 million energy sector corruption scandal involving top Ukrainian officials which has dominated domestic headlines in recent weeks.

It was not clear if the searches were connected to the case and a spokesperson for the NABU, Anton Tatarnikov, declined to comment, citing legal restrictions on revealing details on an ongoing probe.

A spokesperson for the European commission, Guillaume Mercier, told Ukrainian local news, Radio Svoboda, on Friday that they were following developments closely and that the searches showed that Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies were working. He added that fighting corruption was central to the country’s European Union accession.

Investigators suspect that Tymur Mindich, a one-time business partner of Zelenskyy, was the plot’s mastermind. Mindich has fled the country, with any criminal proceedings against him likely to be carried out in absentia. Two top government ministers have resigned in the scandal.

Two of Yermak’s former deputies — Oleh Tatarov and Rostyslav Shurma — left the government in 2024 after watchdogs investigated them for financial wrongdoing. A third deputy, Andrii Smyrnov, was investigated for bribes and other wrongdoing but still works for Yermak.

The scandal has heaped more problems on Zelenskyy as he seeks continued support from Western countries for Ukraine’s war effort and tries to ensure continued foreign funding. The European Union, which Ukraine wants to join, has told Zelenskyy he must crack down on graft.

Zelenskyy faced an unprecedented rebellion from his own lawmakers earlier this month after investigators published details of their energy sector investigation.

Although Yermak was not accused of any wrongdoing, several senior lawmakers in Zelenskyy’s party said Yermak should take responsibility for the debacle in order to restore public trust. Some said that if Zelenskyy didn’t fire him, the party could split, threatening the president’s parliamentary majority. But Zelenskyy defied them.

Zelenskyy urged Ukrainians to unite and “stop the political games” in light of the U.S. pressure to reach a settlement with Russia.

Yermak met Zelenskyy over 15 years ago when he was a lawyer venturing into the TV production business and Zelenskyy was a famous Ukrainian comedian and actor.

He oversaw foreign affairs as part of Zelenskyy’s first presidential team and was promoted to chief of staff in February 2020.

Yermak has accompanied Zelenskyy on every trip abroad since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, and the president’s trust in him has made Yermak’s power appear almost untouchable.

Domestically, officials describe Yermak as Zelenskyy’s gatekeeper, and he is widely believed to have chosen all top government appointees, including prime ministers and ministers.

Individuals connected to Yermak and the president’s office have come under investigation before.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams will endorse Andrew Cuomo in the city’s mayoral election, a spokesperson said Thursday, throwing his weight behind a bitter rival he recently called a “snake and a liar” as the former governor tries to defeat Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani.

Adams’ spokesperson Todd Shapiro said the mayor will endorse Cuomo and intends to campaign alongside him. Adams also told reporters at an unrelated new conference that he “would be with Andrew later today” but declined to answer other questions on the race.

The two leaders met Wednesday night — at Madison Square Garden for the New York Knicks’ opening game of the season — right after the city’s final mayoral debate. They were photographed looking chummy, fueling speculation of an incoming endorsement.

It’s not immediately clear if Adams’ endorsement would help Cuomo in the city’s November election. Adams, who abandoned his reelection campaign late last month, has seen his political capital crumble under the weight of a federal corruption case that was ultimately dismissed following an extraordinary intervention from the Trump administration.

Cuomo, a centrist, has cast himself as the only candidate who could beat Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist and state assemblymember who shocked the political establishment by soundly defeating the former governor in the June primary.

In a statement Thursday, Mamdani said “Andrew Cuomo is running for Eric Adams’ second term.”

“It’s no surprise to see two men who share an affinity for corruption and Trump capitulation align themselves at the behest of the billionaire class and the president himself,” Mamdani said.

Cuomo’s campaign did not immediately return a request for comment.

Cuomo’s path to victory rests on his ability to win over moderates and Republicans, but in recent days he has admitted that it is becoming “harder mathematically” for him as long as Republican Curtis Sliwa remains in the race. At the same time, the former governor has significantly amped up his criticism of Mamdani, appearing on conservative media to claim the city would descend into chaos if Mamdani were to win.

Sliwa, the colorful founder of the Guardian Angels crime patrol group, has steadfastly refused calls to drop out from both Cuomo and his supporters.

The endorsement would mark a reconciliation between the two longtime New York politicians, each of whom had escalated attacks against the other before Adams ended his campaign.

Shortly before dropping out, Adams accused Cuomo making “a career of pushing Black candidates out of races,” referring to the former governor’s past state races.

Cuomo, meanwhile, has described Adams’ management of the city as a “never-ending series of government corruption.”

“New Yorkers had turned off on his management of his city,” he said earlier this year.

The days after Adams’ exit brought some signs of a thawing of tensions, with several of the mayor’s allies and deputies coming out in favor of Cuomo.

In a video announcing he was leaving the race, Adams mentioned neither candidate by name, but warned of “insidious forces” using local government to “advance divisive agendas” — which many interpreted as a reference to Mamdani.

___ Izaguirre reported from Albany, New York.