Pope Leo to make first papal trip to Turkey, Lebanon

Pope Leo XIV volition question to Turkey and Lebanon successful a six-day travel opening precocious November, his archetypal since becoming caput of the Catholic Church, the Vatican said Tuesday.

The 70-year-old American is expected in Turkey from November 27-30, a sojourn that “will see a pilgrimage to Iznik connected the juncture of the 1,700th day of the First Council of Nicaea,” Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said successful a little statement.

A consequent travel to Lebanon volition instrumentality spot from November 30 to December 2, helium said, adding that an itinerary would travel later.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun — a Maronite Christian who invited Leo to sojourn his state portion astatine the Vatican successful June — called the travel a “historic moment”.

“The papal sojourn is simply a telephone for peace, for the rooting of the Christian beingness successful the East, and for the preservation of the Lebanese model, which the satellite and the portion need,” said Aoun successful a statement.

In July, the pope said helium hoped to sojourn Iznik for the 1,700th day of the Council of Nicaea this year, a milestone successful Church history.

That travel was expected to person been made successful May by his predecessor, Pope Francis, who died connected April 21 astatine the property of 88.

Nicaea, which is present the metropolis of Iznik and is located 100 kilometres (62 miles) southeast of Istanbul, hosted the archetypal ecumenical assembly successful Christian past successful 325 AD.

Convened by Emperor Constantine, the assembly was the archetypal to bring unneurotic Christian bishops from crossed the Roman Empire.

It laid the foundations for the Nicene Creed, a connection of religion that intended to exclude definite alleged heresies.

The creed confirmed determination was 1 God who exists successful 3 parts — the Father, the Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit — which remains the cornerstone doctrine for astir Christian denominations.

Leo’s highly anticipated sojourn to Lebanon is expected to absorption connected bid successful the multi-faith country, which has committed to disarming non-state groups, peculiarly the Iran-backed Shiite question Hezbollah.

A root adjacent to organisers of the travel successful Lebanon told AFP that the pope would sojourn the Sanctuary of Saint Charbel, northbound of Beirut, arsenic portion of the visit.

Despite a ceasefire that came into effect successful November 2024, Israel maintains troops successful borderline positions considered strategical successful confederate Lebanon.

Israeli forces regularly transportation retired strikes, claiming to people Hezbollah fighters and infrastructure, peculiarly successful the south.

The past pope to sojourn Lebanon was Benedict XVI in 2012, portion the past papal sojourn to Turkey was successful 2014, erstwhile Pope Francis travelled to Ankara and Istanbul and met with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

AFP

The station Pope Leo to marque archetypal papal travel to Turkey, Lebanon appeared archetypal connected Vanguard News.