At a landmark event, Pope Leo XIV pleaded with Christian leaders from around the Middle East to end centuries of thorny divisions during his first overseas trip as head of the Catholic Church.
In an effort to build bridges and spread peace amid raging global conflicts, the first American pope has chosen Turkiye, which has a Muslim majority, as his first overseas destination.
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Leo, a leader of the ancient Turkish town of Iznik, who created the Nicene Creed that is still used by most Christians today, declared at a ceremony at a ceremony on Friday that “the entire humanity, afflicted by violence and conflict, is crying out for reconciliation.”
He reaffirmed that “we must firmly reject the use of religion to justify war, violence, or any other form of fundamentalism or fanaticism.” The paths to follow are those of fraternal interaction, discussion, and cooperation.
Leo’s four-day visit to Turkiye was primarily Muslim, and the main reason for it was Friday’s ceremony, at which the Church leaders lit candles near the underwater ruins of a fourth-century basilica and performed prayers in English, Greek, and Arabic.
The pope’s first visit to Turkiye was reported by Al Jazeera’s Jonah Hull, who claimed the country is “inextricably” linked to the country’s history.
He said that encounters like this are valuable in bringing the Christian divide together because the pope and the patriarch are both interested in doing so.
In light of the pope’s visit, Hull emphasized that the pope’s visit places emphasis on establishing a religion’s unity in the face of global conflict.
In a few days, he said, “He will send that message to Lebanon, urging peace there.”
The 1.4 billion Catholics who make up the world’s population gathered for a prayer service at Istanbul’s Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Spirit on Friday before heading to Iznik.
Police in Istanbul blocked Leo’s entourage’s main thoroughfare so they could pass through a major thoroughfare in the nation’s largest city.
Pilgrims gathered at Holy Spirit Church, and hundreds more waited patiently outside the courtyard to catch a glimpse of the pontiff. Getting up early, you’ll be on the front line.
Catherine Bermudez, a Filipino immigrant worker in Istanbul, stated to Al Jazeera that she was “very excited” to be chosen to greet the pope inside the church.
Leo, who was clearly moved by his church reception, appeared to be smiling and looking much more at ease than he did on Thursday, urging his flock to stay positive and remembering that the church’s true strength is in its littleness.
He urged Turkiye to give “special attention” to helping the nearly three million refugees and migrants who live in Turkiye, the majority of whom are Syrians, in his address, praising the church’s “small community, yet fruitful” community.
Major papal stop in Iznik
The 70-year-old pontiff traveled to Iznik to commemorate the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea, a gathering of bishops who, despite the separation of the Catholic and Orthodox churches, compiled a foundational statement of faith that is still fundamental to Christianity today.
Leo traveled by helicopter to Iznik, where the Patriarch of Constantinople, the leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, invited him to a cult-fidel service near the ruins of a basilica from the fourth century.
According to reports, Turkish police had taken Mehmet Ali Agca, the man who fatally wounded Pope John Paul II in 1981 in Rome, from Iznik on Thursday.
Agca, who was released from prison in 2010, stated his desire to meet the pope, saying, “I hope we can sit down and talk for two or three minutes in Iznik, or Istanbul, or.”
