POPE LEO'S TRIP TO TURKEY AND LEBANON

December 3, 2025 at 8:44 a.m.

Pope Leo XIV speaks to Turkey's Catholic bishops, priests, religious, deacons and pastoral workers at the Latin-rite Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Istanbul Nov 29, 2025. (CNS photo/Vatican Media) **(Vatican Media)**

Pope Leo XIV joins Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and other Christian leaders for an ecumenical prayer service in Iznik, Turkey, Nov. 28, 2025. The gathering marked the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, convened in 325 A.D., which produced the Nicene Creed and defined foundational Christian doctrine. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez) **(Lola Gomez)**

Pope Leo XIV and Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople attend a prayer service Nov. 29, 2025, in the Patriarchal Cathedral of St. George in Istanbul. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez) **(Lola Gomez)**

Pope Leo XIV meets with Turkey's Catholic bishops, priests, religious, deacons and pastoral workers at the Latin-rite Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Istanbul Nov 29, 2025. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Pope Leo XIV poses for a group photo with Turkish officials and members of the pope's entourage on the steps of the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in Ankara, Turkey, Nov. 27, 2025. The visit marked the beginning of the pope’s apostolic journey to Turkey and Lebanon. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez) **(Lola Gomez)**

Pope Leo XIV speaks to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, government and civil authorities in the National Library, part of the presidential palace complex, in Ankara, Turkey, Nov. 27, 2025. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Pope Leo XIV and Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople give the final blessing together at the end of a prayer service Nov. 29, 2025, in the Patriarchal Cathedral of St. George in Istanbul. (CNS photo/Vatican Media) **(Vatican Media)**

Pope Leo XIV prays at a memorial marking the site of a deadly explosion in 2020 at the port in Beirut, Lebanon, Dec. 2, 2025. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Pope Leo XIV delivers a reflection during an ecumenical and interreligious meeting in Martyrs' Square in Beirut, Lebanon, Dec. 1, 2025. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez) **(Lola Gomez)**

Pope Leo XIV prays in silence before the tomb of St. Charbel at the Monastery of St. Maron in Annaya, Lebanon, Dec. 1, 2025. (CNS photo/Vatican Media) **(Vatican Media)**

Pope Leo XIV waters an olive tree after he and other religious leaders planted it during an ecumenical and interreligious meeting in a tent at Martyrs' Square in Beirut Dec. 1, 2025. With the pope are Greek Orthodox Patriarch John X of Antioch, left, and Sami Abi Al-Muna, spiritual leader of Lebanon's Druze community, right. (CNS photo/Vatican Media) **(Vatican Media)**

Children perform a musical number for Pope Leo XIV during a welcome ceremony with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the presidential palace in Beirut Nov. 30, 2025. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez) **(Lola Gomez)**

Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass with members of Turkey’s Catholic communities at the Volkswagen Arena in Istanbul Nov. 29, 2025. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez) **(Lola Gomez)**

Pope Leo XIV walks with Turkish Muslim leaders and aides as they exit the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque, after a private visit in Istanbul, Turkey, Nov. 29, 2025. The pope had toured the historic site and met with Kurra Hafiz Fatih Kaya, the mosque’s imam; Emrullah Tuncel, the mufti of Istanbul; and Askin Musa Tunca, the mosque’s muezzin. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez) **(Lola Gomez)**

By making his first trip as pope to Turkey and Lebanon, Pope Leo XIV shined a huge spotlight on the faith Christians share and on the yearnings for peace and prosperity common to all people. The main motivation for the trip Nov. 27-Dec. 2 was to celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, which laid the basis for the Creed all mainline Christians still recite.