Pope Leo XIV arrived in Turkey on Thursday for his first international apostolic trip, featuring key meetings amid Middle East tensions. The itinerary covers visits to Ankara and Istanbul before heading to Lebanon, despite recent bombings in the area. This journey highlights the pontifical diplomacy's role in conflict zones and Christian minorities.
Pope Leo XIV landed at Istanbul-Atatürk International Airport at 10:22 on Thursday, greeted by Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy. His schedule in Turkey started with a visit to the Mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, where he wrote in the honor book: “I thank God for being able to visit Turkey and invoke an abundance of peace and prosperity for this country and its people”.
In the afternoon, at the Presidential Palace, he met President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The latter condemned Israeli bombings of churches in Gaza and pledged to cooperate with the Pope to safeguard the “historical identity of East Jerusalem”. Erdogan stated: “Our greatest debt to the Palestinians is justice”. He also noted that Turkey has hosted 3.6 million Syrian refugees for 13 years and Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion.
The pontiff toured the National Library, the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), and the Apostolic Nunciature before heading to Istanbul. There, he will meet Patriarch Bartholomew I at the Patriarchal Church of Saint George to recite the Our Father and sign a joint doctrinal declaration. This encounter recalls the historic embrace between Paul VI and Athenagoras in 1976, after lifting the 1054 schism's excommunications.
A highlight will be in Iznik, ancient Nicaea, commemorating the 1,700th anniversary of the 325 A.D. first ecumenical council, which birthed the Nicene Creed. Turkey, with its secular tradition and overwhelmingly Muslim population (over 90%), positions Catholicism as a minority within minorities, with about 10,000 Latin faithful and smaller communities.
The trip ends in Lebanon from November 30 to December 2, welcomed by President Joseph Aoun, a Maronite Christian. Despite the economic crisis and recent Israeli strikes on Beirut, the Pope will visit the port site of the 2020 explosion that killed over 200 and left 300,000 homeless. In this nation, where Christians make up 40-45% of the population and Maronites number 1.4 million, he will stress coexistence among faiths amid external interferences and Hezbollah's weakening.