Pope Leo XIV met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the presidential palace in Ankara on Thursday, launching his first foreign trip as head of the Catholic Church.
“Today, more than ever, we need people who promote dialogue and practice it with unwavering will and patient determination,” the pope said in a joint appearance with Erdoğan at the Turkish National Library.
Leo praised Turkey’s historic role as a “bridge between cultures and religions, “calling the country “a key place for Christianity.”
The pope’s first foreign trip comes more than six months after he replaced Francis as pontiff. He was welcomed with military honors at the presidential palace in Ankara.
Earlier in the day, the pontiff laid a wreath at the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey.
In his remarks, Erdoğan called the visit “a very important step that strengthens our common ground.”
He noted that Leo’s planned visits to the religious affairs directorate and Istanbul’s Blue Mosque signalled a commitment to “building constructive ties with Muslims.”
Leo’s trip aims to show solidarity with Turkey’s small Christian communities roughly 180,000 people in a country of 85 million and to advance unity among Christian churches.
The pontiff is also expected to address issues of religious freedom, including the decades-long closure of the Halki seminary off Istanbul, a point of strain for Orthodox Christians.
After meetings in Ankara, Leo will travel to Istanbul for talks with Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I.
The pope from there is scheduled to head to İznik, a few hours’ drive south of Istanbul, to commemorate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea.
The visit, originally planned by the late pope Francis, will include prayers at the recently uncovered fourth-century Basilica of St Neophytos to underscore unity.
Leo continues to Lebanon on Sunday before returning to Rome on December 2.
