This video dates back 11 years. It was 2014, and it was the sixth trip of Pope Francis’s pontificate.
For Pope Leo XIV, however, this will be his first trip. He will visit a country where Christians are a historic minority and often marginalized. For example, one need only remember what President Erdoğan decided in 2020 – he converted the Hagia Sophia into a mosque. The first thing the Pope will do upon arriving in Ankara on November 27 will be to meet with him.
Despite that, a cordial meeting is expected, during which the war in Ukraine will also be on the table. Turkey has been one of the few countries to which the parties involved in the conflict have granted a certain mediating role.
What stands out most about Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Turkey, however, is the ecumenical event that inspired this trip: the celebration of the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, when the Church was not yet so divided. The central ceremony will take place on November 30, although the day before, together with Patriarch Bartholomew, the Pope will sign a joint declaration. Thus, in some way, the 2014 scene will be repeated.
On that same November 30, the Pope will travel to Lebanon. The highlight of that trip will be the event on December 2: a prayer at the site of the massive Beirut port explosion of 2020.
The Christian population in this country is larger and freer than in Turkey. In fact, the Pope will have more meetings with the Catholic community than in the previous state. Among those encounters, the one that stands out the most is his meeting with young people on December 1, the day before his departure.
CRT
