LIVE: Pope Leo XIV Visits The Sultanahmet Mosque, Known as the Blue Mosque in Istanbul | N18G

Vatican LIVE: Pope Leo XIV Embarks on First Foreign Trip To Turkey & Lebanon | Pope Leo Meets Erdogan | CNBC TV18
Pope Leo XIV visits the Sultanahmet Mosque, known as the Blue Mosque, during his first apostolic journey, in Istanbul, Turkey, November 29, 2025.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I speaks during an ecumenical prayer service with Pope Leo XIV near the archaeological excavations of the ancient Basilica of Saint Neophytos, during the pope's first apostolic journey, in Iznik, Turkey,
Pope Leo XIV meets with bishops, priests, deacons, pastoral workers at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Istanbul and delivers a speech. The journey will also highlight interreligious engagement. On 27 November, the Pope will visit the Diyanet, Türkiye’s Presidency of Religious Affairs; meet the Chief Rabbi of Türkiye; and hold a private encounter in Beirut with Muslim and Druze leaders. Memorable moments are expected throughout the trip: a wreath at Atatürk’s mausoleum, prayer inside the Blue Mosque, Mass at Istanbul’s Volkswagen Arena, the planting of a cedar at the presidential palace in Beirut, and prayer at the tomb of St Charbel and before the statue of Our Lady of Lebanon.
ANKARA – Pope Leo arrives in Ankara for his first trip abroad. Pope Leo will make his debut overseas trip as leader of the Catholic church on Thursday, travelling on a six-day mission of peace and unity to Turkey and Lebanon in what the Vatican said was expected to be a “demanding” schedule packed with meetings with political and religious leaders amid heightened Middle East tensions.
In Turkey, a country with a Muslim majority and home to an estimated 36,000 Catholics, the Chicago-born pontiff, who was elected in May, will first meet President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara.
He will also meet Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the world’s 260 million Orthodox Christians, for celebrations of the 1,700th anniversary of a major early church council in Nicaea, now İznik, which settled ideological disputes.
Leo’s arrival is especially anticipated in Lebanon, where many fear a deepening conflict between Israel and Hezbollah after an Israeli strike earlier this week on a neighbourhood in southern Beirut that killed four Hezbollah operatives and one of the group’s most senior military commanders. Leo’s predecessor, Francis, who died in April, had planned to visit both countries but was unable to because of ill health.travel to Istanbul later in the day.
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