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Pope Leo XIV is going turkey on Thursday on his first trip abroad, fulfilling the late Pope Francis’ plans to bring a message of peace to the region at a crucial time to celebrate an important Orthodox anniversary and efforts to end the war. ukraine and reduce Middle East tensions.
leo coming first ankaraWhere he plans to hold a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and deliver a speech to the country’s diplomatic corps. then he will move on istanbul for three days of ecumenical and interreligious meetings, which will be followed by the Lebanese leg of his visit.
Leo’s visit comes as Turkey, a country of more than 85 million predominantly Sunni Muslims, has positioned itself as a key mediator in peace talks for the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.
Ankara has hosted a round of low-level talks between Russia and Ukraine and offered to participate in the stabilization force in Gaza to help maintain the fragile ceasefire, something Leo could appreciate in his arrival speech.
reaction in Türkiye
Turkey’s growing military might, as NATO’s largest army after the US, is drawing Western leaders closer to Erdogan, while critics warn of his toughening of the country’s main opposition party.
Although support for the Palestinians and an end to the war in Ukraine is widespread in Turkey, for Turks facing an ongoing subsistence crisis due to market turmoil caused by domestic politics, international politics is a secondary concern.
This may explain why Leo’s visit escaped the attention of many people in Türkiye, at least outside the country’s small Christian community.
Sukran Celebi said, “I didn’t know he was coming. He is welcome.” “It would be nice if he called for peace in the world, but I don’t think it would change anything.”
Some said they thought the visit by the first American Pope in history was about advancing the interests of the United States, or perhaps to press for the reopening of a Greek Orthodox religious seminary that has become a focal point for religious freedom in Turkey.
“If the Pope is visiting, it means America wants something from Turkey,” said Metin Erdem, the owner of a musical instrument shop in Istanbul’s tourist Galata district.
historical anniversary
The main purpose of Leo’s visit to Türkiye is to celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, Christianity’s first ecumenical council.
Leo will pray with Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, at the 325 AD meeting site in Iznik, today’s northwestern Turkey, and sign a joint declaration in a clear sign of Christian unity.
The Eastern and Western churches were united until the Great Schism of 1054, a division largely caused by disagreement over the primacy of the Pope.
While the visit is timed to important Catholic-Orthodox anniversaries, it will also allow Leo to strengthen the church’s ties with Muslims. Leo is to visit the Blue Mosque and chair an interfaith meeting in Istanbul.
Imam Asgin Tunca of the Blue Mosque, who received the Pope, said the visit would help advance Christian-Muslim relations and overcome popular prejudices about Islam.
Tunca said, “We want to reflect that image by showing the beauty of our religion through our hospitality – it’s God’s order.”
religious freedom in Türkiye
Since coming to power in 2002, Erdogan’s government has implemented reforms to improve the rights of religious groups, including opening places of worship and returning confiscated property.
Nevertheless, some Christian groups face legal and bureaucratic problems when attempting to register churches, according to a US State Department report on religious freedom.
The Catholic Church, which has about 33,000 members in Turkey, has no formal legal recognition in the country “and this is the source of many problems,” said the Rev. Paolo Pugliese, superior of Capuchin Catholic monks in Turkey.
“But the Catholic Church enjoys significant importance because we have an international image… and the Pope has our back,” he said.
potential stress
The most delicate moment of Leo’s visit will come on Sunday, when he visits the Armenian Apostolic Cathedral in Istanbul. The cathedral has hosted all popes who have visited Turkey since Paul VI, except Francis who visited Turkey in 2014 when his father was ill.
Francis visited him in the hospital, and a few months later he greatly angered Turkey in 2015 when he declared that the genocide of the Armenians by the Ottoman Turks was “the first genocide of the 20th century.” Türkiye, which has long denied the genocide, recalled its ambassador to the Holy See in protest.
Leo has been far more discreet than Francis in his public comments, and using such words on Turkish soil would spark a diplomatic incident. But the Vatican is also going through a difficult moment in its relations with Armenia, as its inter-religious overtures to Azerbaijan have come under criticism.
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Associated Press religion coverage is supported by the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from the Lilly Endowment Inc. AP is solely responsible for this content.