Pope due in Turkish capital for 1st foreign trip with focus on Mideast peace

ANKARA

Pope Leo XIV arrives for his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025.

Pope Leo XIV will embark on his first foreign trip on Nov. 27, a pilgrimage to Türkiye and Lebanon, starting with the Turkish capital Ankara, while he is expected to issue appeals for regional peace and call for unity among long-divided Christian churches.

With the media glare that will document history’s first American pope on the road, Leo will visit Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of modern Türkiye founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, on Nov. 27.

The pope will also meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan after an official ceremony at the Presidential Complex.

Pope Leo will travel to Istanbul following his program in Ankara. On Nov. 28 morning, he is scheduled to meet Christian clergy at the Saint Esprit Cathedral in Harbiye.

Later in the day, he will fly by helicopter to İznik in the Turkish northwestern province of Bursa.

The main impetus for traveling to Türkiye is to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, Christianity’s first ecumenical council held in today’s İznik.

Leo will pray with Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew at the site of the 325 A.D. gathering and sign a joint declaration in a visible sign of Christian unity.

Leo is fulfilling a trip originally planned by Pope Francis to mark the significant anniversary with the Orthodox Church in Türkiye.

Pope Leo will visit the remains of the Basilica of St. Neophytos, long submerged beneath İznik Lake, and lead a liturgy at the archaeological site.

After the İznik program, Pope Leo will return to Istanbul for a private meeting with bishops.

On Nov. 29 morning, he will follow the tradition of previous popes by visiting the Blue Mosque, before meeting church and Christian community representatives at the Mor Efrem Syriac Orthodox Church in Yeşilköy.

Pope Leo will also visit the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and Armenian Cathedral in Istanbul.

Later the same day, he will preside over a mass attended by thousands at Volkswagen Arena.

On Nov. 30, he will depart for Beirut, where he aims to support the long-suffering Christian community as well as Lebanese of all faiths still seeking justice over the 2020 Beirut port explosion.

Leo, the first U.S. pope, will deliver his first addresses to foreign governments and visit several sensitive cultural sites during the trip.

The trip is being closely covered by U.S. media, with major networks — ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CNN and the BBC — included in the traveling pool.

Vatican correspondents, along with Lebanese and Turkish reporters, round out the papal press corps of about 80 journalists.

A chance to speak about Mideast peace

The visit will also offer Leo several occasions to speak about regional tensions overall, Catholic-Muslim relations and Christians' dwindling presence in the Middle East.

Clergy in the region say the Vatican’s strong support for Palestinians in Gaza during Israel’s war, first under Francis and now Leo, has bolstered the church’s credibility among ordinary Muslims.