“Pope Leo XIV’s Visit to Türkiye and Ankara’s Expectations”

Pope Leo XIV, who will visit Türkiye between 27–30 November, carries two roles: one as the Head of the Vatican State, and the other as the Spiritual Leader of Catholic Christians. Ankara attaches importance to the fact that Pope Leo XIV is making his first official foreign trip to Türkiye and is pleased about it. In fact, this visit had been previously planned between Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and former Pope Francis, but when Francis passed away, Leo continued from where he had left off.

The Pope’s Visit and Christian Unity

The Pope has a very intense religious and cultural program in Türkiye, the details of which I will explain shortly. However, there are two key points in this trip that concern hundreds of millions of Christians worldwide:

1. The mass he will conduct in İznik (Nicaea) on 28 November. İznik  is where the First Council convened in 325 to achieve Christian unity, during which the studies on the Bible took place, the Trinity (Father-Son-Holy Spirit) was affirmed, and Easter was established. In other words, 2025 marks the 1700th anniversary of the First Council—the first assembly for Christian unity.

2. On 29 November, after attending the mass led by Bartholomew at the Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, a joint signing of the “Ecumenical Unity Declaration.” With this declaration, an important step will be taken in the “Unity of Christians” initiative begun between Bartholomew and Francis to overcome the Great Schism of 1054 between the Western (Catholic) and Eastern (Orthodox) Churches—at least, that is the expectation.

Before his trip, the Pope specifically stated that the İznik visit was “an exceptional opportunity to promote Christian unity.” With the signing of this declaration, the Vatican will also once again recognize the Ecumenical Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church as the global spiritual leader of Greek Orthodox Christians—after many centuries.

Thus, an important step toward Christian unity will be taken in Türkiye, in Istanbul.

Türkiye’s Expectations

Ankara has two main expectations from Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Türkiye:

1. As the Pope will travel to Lebanon after Türkiye, he should use his influence regarding the Palestinian tragedy. Before his trip, the Pope touched on Ukraine and Palestine, saying “Weapons are not a solution,” but Ankara expects him to openly oppose Israel’s policy of annihilation in Gaza, where more than 60,000 Palestinians—mostly women and children—have been killed with genocidal intent. And not only because Christian places of worship, hospitals, and schools have been targeted and Christians have been killed, but because this is a crime against humanity, regardless of whether the victims are Muslim or Christian.

2. The Pope may express his desire for the reopening of the Halki Seminary during his meeting with President Erdoğan and in his joint statement with Bartholomew. President Erdoğan discussed this issue with U.S. President Donald Trump on 25 September, after Bartholomew had met Trump at the White House. Erdoğan told Trump he would look into the matter. Ankara believes that the Pope will act with the understanding that this issue is an internal matter of Türkiye, as defined by the Lausanne Treaty.

The Pope’s Intense Program

The announced program for Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Türkiye—subject to change depending on developments—is as follows:

27 November

• Arrival in Ankara in the morning. Visit to Anıtkabir, paying respect to Atatürk.

• Transfer to the Presidential Complex, official meeting with President Erdoğan, working lunch with delegations.

• Meeting with civil society representatives and diplomats at the National Library.

• Departure for Istanbul.

28 November

• Visit to the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit (Saint Esprit) in Harbiye.

• Visit to the French Poorhouse (nursing home) in Feriköy.

• At noon, transfer to İznik via Bursa; participation in the 1700th anniversary ceremonies of the First Council of Nicaea and prayer.

• Return to Istanbul.

29 November

• Visit to the Blue Mosque.

• Visit to the Mor Ephrem Syriac Orthodox Church.

• Joint mass with Patriarch Bartholomew at the Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarchate.

• Signing ceremony of the “Ecumenical Unity Declaration.”

• Large public mass at Volkswagen Arena in the evening.

30 November: Departure from Istanbul to Beirut.