ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV is planning to visit Lebanon this year on his first foreign visit, the country’s Catholic cardinal said, a trip that would give history’s first American pope a chance to speak in broad terms about peace in the Middle East and the plight of Christians there. A visit to Lebanon could be the second leg of a planned visit to Turkey at the end of November to commemorate an important anniversary with the Orthodox Church. The last pope to visit Lebanon was Pope Benedict XVI in September 2012 on what was the last foreign trip of his papacy. A Vatican spokesperson on Thursday declined to confirm or deny a trip by Leo. Pope Francis, who died on April 21, had long hoped to visit Lebanon, but the country’s political and economic instability prevented a visit during his lifetime.