Pope Leo to visit Turkey and Lebanon in November on first trip abroad

Pontiff likely to appeal for peace in Middle East and address plight of Christians there

Pope Leo XIV was elected by cardinals in May to succeed the late Pope Francis. EPA

Pope Leo XIV will travel to Turkey and Lebanon in late November in his first foreign trip as pontiff, the Vatican announced on Tuesday.

Pope Leo, the first US leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, will visit Turkey from November 27 to 30, then travel to Lebanon from November 30 to December 2. He is expected to speak about the plight of Christians in the Middle East and appeal for peace across the region.

He was elected by a conclave of cardinals in May to succeed the late Pope Francis, who had planned to visit both countries but was unable to go because of health problems.

During his trip to Turkey, Pope Leo will mark 1,700 years since the Council of Nicaea, which settled aspects of Christian doctrine in the year 325, in a town now known as Iznik.

He is expected to meet Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual leader of the world's 260 million Orthodox Christians. “It is profoundly symbolic that Pope Leo … will visit [the patriarch] on his first official journey,” Rev John Chryssavgis, an adviser to Bartholomew, told Reuters.

“Pope Leo is doubtless seeking to express and affirm his identity as a Christian in a world of many different creeds, where all people, regardless of religion and race, are called to live together in mutual understanding,” said the priest.

Pope Leo will pay a visit to the Turkish town of Iznik, site of an early Christian council in the year 325. Reuters

Travelling abroad has become a major part of the modern papacy, with popes seeking to meet local Catholics, spread the faith, and conduct international diplomacy.

He has previously discussed the “tragic situation in Gaza” during a meeting on with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and called for a permanent ceasefire in the strip.

A new pope's first travels are usually seen as an indication of the issues he wants to highlight during his pontificate.

Pope Leo had been expected for months to travel to Turkey for his first trip abroad, but the additional visit to Lebanon emerged in more recent discussions.

Vatican officials say he wants to make appeals for peace and commemorate the 2020 chemical explosion at the Beirut port that killed 200 people and caused billions of dollars worth of damage.

Pope Leo was formally invited to Lebanon by the country's religious authorities and Presidency. The latter, in Lebanon's political system, is reserved for a Maronite Catholic Christian.

“We welcome this historic event with great joy and renewed hope. We hope that this apostolic visit to Lebanon will bring peace and stability and be a sign of unity for all Lebanese, Christians and Muslims alike, at this critical stage in our nation's history,” said a statement by Lebanon's Council of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops.

President Joseph Aoun had met with Pope Leo at the Vatican in June.