Pope Leo XIV has embarked on his first international trip as head of the Catholic Church, beginning with a four-day visit to Turkey followed by a stop in crisis-ridden Lebanon. The journey, completed Sunday in Turkey, aimed to foster interfaith dialog and offer a message of hope to the region’s struggling Christian communities. This visit builds on a long history of papal engagement with Turkey – marking the fifth such trip – while also addressing contemporary challenges including divisions within the Orthodox Church and the urgent humanitarian needs in Lebanon following years of economic and political turmoil.
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Pope Leo XIV concluded a four-day visit to Turkey on Sunday, where he received a warm welcome from the country’s small Christian community, before traveling to Lebanon with a message of peace for the crisis-stricken nation.
This trip marks the first international journey for Pope Leo XIV since his election as the head of the Catholic Church, which has 1.4 billion followers worldwide. He met with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and then traveled to Nicaea to commemorate the 1700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea, a foundational event in Christian history.
On Saturday, thousands of worshippers braved the rain to attend a Mass celebrated by the Pope in Istanbul, with many traveling from across Turkey to participate in a multilingual prayer service.
Sunday morning saw the Pope participate in a prayer service at the Armenian Cathedral, followed by a Mass at the St. George’s Patriarchal Church.
Later, Pope Leo XIV shared a meal with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the leading figure of the Eastern Orthodox Church, a day after they signed a joint declaration pledging to take “new and courageous steps on our journey toward unity.”
– On to Lebanon –
Despite the “Great Schism” of 1054 between the Eastern and Western churches, dialogue continues between Catholics and Orthodox Christians, and joint religious celebrations – known as ecumenical services – are held, despite ongoing doctrinal differences.
Both churches are working towards an agreement, particularly on establishing a unified date for celebrating Easter, the most important holiday in the Christian calendar, which is currently observed according to either the Julian or Gregorian calendar.
The Pope’s visit comes at a time of increased division within the Orthodox world, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has deepened the rift between the Patriarchates of Moscow and Constantinople.
Pope Leo XIV is the fifth Pope to visit Turkey, following Paul VI (1967), John Paul II (1979), Benedict XVI (2006), and Francis (2014).
He is scheduled to depart Istanbul at 11:45 a.m. GMT en route to Beirut for a visit lasting until Tuesday.
Prior to his departure, the Airbus A320neo aircraft carrying the pontiff, operated by Italian airline ITA Airways, will undergo technical repairs as it is among thousands of planes affected by the need to replace an electronic software component related to the control systems, according to the Vatican.
This six-day, two-country trip represents a significant first international test for the first American pontiff.
Pope Leo XIV, elected as the leader of the Catholic Church in May, presents a more understated style compared to the charisma and dynamism of Pope Francis.
While the papal visit hasn’t garnered significant attention in Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country of 86 million with a Christian population of around 100,000, it is keenly anticipated in religiously diverse Lebanon, home to 5.8 million people.
Lebanon has been grappling with a continuous series of crises since 2019, including an economic collapse, the devastating 2020 Beirut port explosion, and recent conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
The Pope’s visit to Lebanon underscores the Vatican’s concern for the stability of the region and the well-being of its Christian communities.
بور-كمك-همو/ود/سام
