Pope Leo XIV called for support for refugees and migrants in Turkey on Friday as he led his first overseas service as Pope in Istanbul’s Catholic cathedral.
“The significant presence of migrants and refugees in this country presents the church with the challenge of welcoming and serving some of the most vulnerable,” the pontiff told a congregation of Christian worshippers in the Latin Cathedral of the Holy Spirit.
He encouraged worshippers "to accompany young people, to give special attention to those areas where the church in Turkey is called to serve ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, transmitting the faith to the local population, and pastoral service to refugees and migrants".
Pope Leo is on the second day of a four-day tour in Turkey, where he aims to build inter-Christian bonds and interfaith ties with the country’s Muslim majority. On Thursday, speaking next to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the capital Ankara, he called for an embrace of religious and cultural diversity and rejected a race for military and economic superiority. The pontiff will travel to Lebanon on Sunday.
Turkey is home to millions of migrants, mostly from Muslim-majority countries such as Syria, Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq, and churches in the country provide charitable services. Caritas, a Catholic aid organisation, provided victims of the 2023 earthquakes in south-eastern Turkey and Syria with shelter, food, water and other essentials.
Pope Leo arrived at the 19th century cathedral in a black hybrid vehicle, surrounded by security guards, and was greeted by the Catholic Bishop of Istanbul, Massimiliano Palinuro. A sign inside the church read “One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism” – an apparent nod to the pontiff’s aim to strengthen historically strained ties between the eastern and western churches.
Pope Leo is the fifth pontiff to pray at the cathedral, which all previous leaders of the Catholic Church visited on their trips to Turkey.
He said there was strength in small numbers, a nod to the size of Turkey's Christian community. Less than half a per cent of the 86 million-strong population is Christian. More than 99 per cent is Sunni Muslim.
“The church in Turkiye is a small community, but fruitful, like a seed,” Pope Leo said. “I encourage you to cultivate a spiritual attitude of confident hope.”
Hopes for peace
Worshippers, wearing religious dress, suits, ties and jackets, had travelled from across Turkey and from overseas to see the Pope speak in Istanbul.
Sister Sandra, a Chaldean nun originally from Iraq, travelled from France to see the Pope, and said his message of peace raised her spirits.
“This is a holy land, and with God’s will, he will guarantee peace in the whole Middle East, by way of this country [Turkey] that links east and west,” she told The National.
By visiting Turkey, the Pope could help strengthen Christian communities in the Middle East, she said.
“If peace can be guaranteed on this land, then … Christians will flourish, and there will be more dialogue between faiths,” she said. “I prayed for the Pope’s visit to be a blessing for all countries, and … that it guarantees peace in the Middle East.”
Laki Vingas, a member of Turkey’s Greek Orthodox community, valued the Pope’s support for Turkey’s Christian minority.
The pontiff gave the message that “you don't need to be very powerful in numbers or money”, he said. “So it's extremely important, the message he gave, and he motivated the small communities left.”
Mr Vingas said he felt sorry for Turkish people who oppose the Pope’s visit. Some opponents have suggested the trip is an attempt to proselytise and make claims on the country’s territory.
“It's a pity for those that they are thinking like this,” he told The National. “I think coexistence today is vital, because there is no land, there is no country, there is not any place in the world where only indigenous people are living alone. So we have to understand, we have to learn, we have to respect each other without fear.”
The congregation, made up of worshippers from Armenian, Greek, Latin, Turkish and Chaldean churches, as well as Christians from Africa and Asian countries, was “extremely happy” to see the Pope, Mr Vingas said.
“He talked to the people he gave the opportunity to many other people to take pictures with him. So it was very nice and very kind.”
For Andrea Sansal, a Brazilian who has lived in Turkey for six years, the Pope’s service strengthened Christian communities there and sent a message of peace for a country surrounded by conflict.
Ukraine lies just across the Black Sea, while conflicts in the neighbouring Caucasus, Iran and Syria have often left Turkey feeling vulnerable to overspill. The Pope’s messages of strengthening human ties provided comfort, she said.
“No matter what religion a person is, as long as he speaks good words, as long as he can establish a bond, as a human being, it is very important for everyone,” she told The National.
After the cathedral service, Pope Leo visited the Little Sisters of the Poor nursing home, an institution run by nuns to look after the elderly and the sick. He led prayers and met the home’s residents.
