Pope Leo XIV visited Istanbul’s iconic Blue Mosque on Saturday however didn’t cease to wish, as he opened an intense day of conferences and liturgies with Turkey’s Christian leaders, the place he once more emphasised the necessity for Christians to be united.
Leo took his sneakers off and, in his white socks, toured the Seventeenth-century mosque, trying up at its hovering tiled domes and the Arabic inscriptions on its columns as an imam pointed them out to him.
The Vatican had stated Leo would observe a “brief moment of silent prayer” within the mosque, however he didn’t. An imam of the mosque, Asgin Tunca, stated he had invited Leo to wish, for the reason that mosque was “Allah’s house,” however the pope declined.
Later, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni stated: “The pope experienced his visit to the mosque in silence, in a spirit of contemplation and listening, with deep respect for the place and the faith of those who gather there in prayer.”
The Vatican then despatched out a corrected model of its bulletin concerning the journey, eradicating reference to the deliberate “brief moment of silent prayer,” with out additional clarification.
Leo, historical past’s first American pope, was following within the footsteps of his current predecessors, who all made high-profile visits to the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, as it’s formally identified, in a gesture of respect to Turkey’s Muslim majority.
Pope Leo XIV, middle, strolling with Muezzin Musa Asgın Tunca, left, Dr. Emrullah Tuncel, second from left, and Imam of Mosque Sultanahmet Fatih Kaya, visits the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025.
Domenico Stinellis / AP
Papal visits to Blue Mosque usually elevate questions
Different visits have all the time raised questions on whether or not the pope would pray within the Muslim home of worship, or on the very least pause to collect ideas in a meditative silence.
When Pope Benedict XVI visited Turkey in 2006, tensions had been excessive as a result of Benedict had offended many within the Muslim world just a few months earlier with a speech in Regensburg, Germany that was extensively interpreted as linking Islam and violence.
The Vatican added a go to to the Blue Mosque on the final minute in a bid to achieve out to Muslims, and Benedict was warmly welcomed. He noticed a second of silent prayer, head bowed, because the imam prayed subsequent to him, going through east.
Pope Benedict XVI, second from left, is guided by Istanbul’s Mufti Mustafa Cagrici, fourth from left, contained in the Blue Mosque in Istanbul Thursday, Nov. 30, 2006.
AP Photograph/Salih Zeki Fazlioglu
Benedict later thanked him “for this moment of prayer” for what was solely the second time a pope had visited a mosque, after St. John Paul II visited one briefly in Syria in 2001.
There have been no doubts in 2014 when Pope Francis visited the Blue Mosque: He stood for 2 minutes of silent prayer going through east, his head bowed, eyes closed and arms clasped in entrance of him. The Grand Mufti of Istanbul, Rahmi Yaran, instructed the pope afterwards, “May God accept it.”
Pope Francis visits the Blue Mosque on November 29, 2014 in Istanbul.
FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Photos
Talking to reporters after the go to, the imam Tunca stated he had instructed the Leo: “It’s not my house, not your house, (it’s the) house of Allah,” he stated. He stated he instructed the pope: “‘If you want, you can worship here,’ I said. But he said, ‘That’s OK.’”
“He wanted to see the mosque, wanted to feel (the) atmosphere of the mosque, I think. And was very pleased,” he stated.
There was additionally one other change to the official program, after the Vatican stated the pinnacle of Turkey’s Diyanet spiritual affairs directorate would accompany Leo on the mosque. He didn’t come and a spokesman from the Diyanet stated he wasn’t imagined to, since he had welcomed Leo in Ankara.
Hagia Sophia left off itinerary
Previous popes have additionally visited the close by Hagia Sophia landmark, as soon as one of the crucial vital historic cathedrals in Christianity and a United Nations-designated world heritage web site.
However Leo left that go to off his itinerary on his first journey as pope. In July 2020, Turkey transformed Hagia Sophia from a museum again right into a mosque, a transfer that drew widespread worldwide criticism, together with from the Vatican.
After the mosque go to, Leo held a non-public assembly with Turkey’s Christian leaders on the Syriac Orthodox Church of Mor Ephrem. Within the afternoon, he was anticipated to wish with the non secular chief of the world’s Orthodox Christians, Patriarch Bartholomew, on the patriarchal church of Saint George.
There, they had been to signal a joint assertion. The Vatican stated in his remarks to the patriarchs gathered, Leo reminded them “that division among Christians is an obstacle to their witness.”
Pope Leo XIV visits the Ottoman-era Sultan Ahmed or Blue Mosque, in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025.
Emrah Gurel / AP
He pointed to the following Holy Yr to be celebrated by Christians, in 2033 on the anniversary of Christ’s crucifixion, and invited them to go to Jerusalem on “a journey that leads to full unity.”
Leo was ending the day with a Catholic Mass in Istanbul’s Volkswagen Enviornment for the nation’s Catholic group, who quantity 33,000 in a rustic of greater than 85 million folks, most of whom are Sunni Muslim.
The Airbus software program replace doesn’t spare pope
Whereas Leo was specializing in bolstering relations with Orthodox Christians and Muslims, journey organizers had been coping with extra mundane points.
Leo’s ITA Airways Airbus A320neo constitution was amongst these caught up within the worldwide Airbus software program replace, ordered by the European Union Aviation Security Company. The order got here after an evaluation discovered the pc code might have contributed to a sudden drop within the altitude of a JetBlue aircraft final month.
The Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, stated Saturday that ITA was engaged on the difficulty. He stated the required part to replace the plane was on its option to Istanbul together with the technician who would set up it.
Leo is scheduled to fly from Istanbul to Beirut, Lebanon, on Sunday afternoon for the second leg of his inaugural journey as pope.
Extra from CBS Information
