On the second day of his visit to Turkey, Pope Leo XIV was greeted with hymns and applause by the small Catholic community of Constantinople at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit. He then participated in a joint prayer with Orthodox Christians to mark 1,700 years since the Council of Nicaea.
“This visit is a blessing for us,” said 35-year-old Ali Günür, a member of the Christian community that comprises 0.1% of Turkey’s population.
“People need peace. We have serious problems, especially in our region and country, with foreigners and refugees. I believe the Pope will be able to help and will do everything possible. This is my greatest hope.”
Visibly moved by the reception, the Pope encouraged priests, monks, and the faithful, assuring them that “the logic of humility is the true strength of the Church” in a country where Christians continue to struggle against feelings of exclusion.
“The significant presence of migrants and refugees in this country challenges the Church to welcome and care for the most vulnerable,” the Pope said.
“Let us walk together”
This afternoon, Pope Leo is expected to arrive in Iznik (ancient Nicaea in Bithynia, south of Constantinople) to celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council with the Orthodox leadership. In 325 AD, this council brought together more than 300 bishops of the Roman Empire.
Invited by Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, a key Vatican interlocutor, the Pope will participate in an ecumenical prayer ceremony on the shores of Lake Iznik, above the ruins of St. Neophytus. This ceremony was originally scheduled to be attended by Pope Francis, the Pope’s predecessor, who passed away in April.
“A stabilizing role”
In an interview with Agence France-Presse (AFP), Patriarch Bartholomew said that, at a time when “the world is in turmoil and divided by wars and rivalries,” the Pope’s visit is particularly significant and meaningful.”
“This reminds the faithful that we are stronger and more credible when we are united in our witness and in responding to the world’s challenges,” the Patriarch emphasized.
The pontiff arrived in Turkey yesterday for his first foreign trip and was welcomed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara. In his speech, Pope Francis called on Turkey to play a “stabilizing role.”
“Turkey can be a factor of stability and rapprochement among peoples, serving a just and sustainable peace,” the Pope said, emphasizing that the country is also “a crossroads of sensitivities, whose homogenization constitutes impoverishment.” “A society is not alive if it is not pluralistic,” he added.
Following in the footsteps of Paul VI (1967), John Paul II (1979), Benedict XVI, and Francis (2014), Leo is the fifth pope to visit Turkey.
From Sunday to Tuesday, the Pope will continue his journey with a visit to Lebanon.
According to Turkish media, on Thursday evening, Mehmet Ali Agca, the perpetrator of the 1981 assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II, was escorted by police out of Iznik, where he had hoped to meet the Pope “for two or three minutes.”
Translated by Ioanna Georgakopoulou
