Rafiq Hariri International Airport lies on the Mediterranean in the heart of the Lebanese capital’s mostly Shiite southern suburbs, where support for the powerful Shiite movement Hezbollah is widespread.
Awaiting Benedict on the road out of the airport were boys and girls, all members of the Mahdi scouts, named after the 12th imam of Shiite Islam who mysteriously disappeared centuries ago and whose return is eagerly awaited.
They wore crisply pressed blue or kahki shirts, depending on their ages, adorned by a badge bearing the picture of the founder of the Iranian revolution, the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Many of the children were carrying the Lebanese flag, while some also waved the flag of the Vatican.
Under a hot late summer sun, the elder children waited patiently, while the younger ones played as they enjoyed a day off school.
"The pope is here! The pope is here!" shouted one 10-year-old boy, as he leaned over a fence on the airport road, gripping his Lebanese flag.
"I’m so happy he’s coming," said Fatima, a 12-year-old girl scout, wearing a blue Islamic headscarf. "He has made us all happy, and we just want to celebrate."
Yellow and white flags and balloons rose over the airport as the pope’s convoy passed.
Ironically, Hezbollah’s signature colour, and that of the scouts’ scarves, is yellow, while those of the Vatican are yellow and white.
Asked whether she minded that the pope is a Christian religious figure rather than a Muslim, Fatima replied: "I just think it’s good we all get to be happy for a day."
Also filled with anticipation was 14-year-old Hassan, who said that "in Lebanon we are all fingers of one hand."
With the sectarian divisions that drove the devastating 1975-1990 civil war seeming to be a thing of the past for the children, Hassan said: "I have Sunni Muslim friends, not just Shiites."
Nearby was the group of Shiite women, dressed in black from top to toe, who had also come to welcome the pontiff.
One of them, Juliette Nayef from the eastern city of Baalbek, travelled to Beirut by bus.
"This is a historic visit. I feel the pope will help bring peace to Lebanon," she said. "I want to thank the pope, but I also want to thank (Hezbollah Secretary General) Hassan Nasrallah for helping bring peace to Lebanon. The secret to peace is coexistence."
Just as excited was schoolteacher Iman Faris, who lives in the southern suburbs of Beirut, battered by aerial bombardment in 2006 during a war between Israel and Hezbollah.
"Those who say there are differences between Muslims and Christians just want to ruin our country," said Faris. "After all, the first woman to wear a headscarf was Mary," the mother of Jesus.
