Pope Leo visits Blue Mosque in Turkiye’s Istanbul

Pope Leo XIV is currently on his third day of a three-day visit to Turkiye, where he will lead the Catholic Church in a Muslim place of worship.

The first US pope, led by its imam and the mufti of Istanbul, led a tour of the massive complex, which can accommodate 10,000 worshippers, before bowing slightly before entering the mosque on Saturday morning.

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Leo, who was wearing white socks for the 20-minute visit, exchanged a joke with one of his guides, the mosque’s lead muezzin, the official in charge of the daily calls to prayer.

The Blue Mosque’s muezzin, Askin Tunca, who calls the faithful to prayer, told reporters, “He wanted to see the mosque, he wanted to feel the atmosphere of the mosque,” Tunca said.

Following the mosque visit, Tunca claimed to have asked Leo if he wanted to pray briefly during the tour, but the pope said he would prefer to stay inside.

Leo took the tour “in a spirit of reflection and listening, with deep respect for the place and the faith of those who gather there in prayer,” according to the Vatican’s statement shortly after the visit.

Leo joked with Tunca while he did not pray during the tour. The pope spotted him being led out of a door that is typically an entryway and had a sign that read, “No exit.

Leo grinned and said, “It says no exit.” You can stay here, Tunca said, “You don’t have to leave, you can stay here.”

The pope’s first overseas trip, which also includes a trip to Lebanon, will take him to Turkiye until Sunday.

Leo, a relative unknown before becoming pope in May, is receiving close attention as he delivers his first speeches abroad and interacts with people who are mostly Catholic in Italy.

Sultan Ahmed I, the Ottoman Empire’s ruler from 1603 to 1617, is credited with overseeing the construction of The Blue  and Mosque&nbsp. The foundation of its well-known name is made up of thousands of blue  ceramic tiles.

Leo did not travel to the famous sixth-century basilica, Hagia Sophia, which was converted into a mosque under the Ottoman Empire and later became a museum under Turkiye’s newly established republic, unlike his predecessors.