By Mira Crane ’27

Global Editor

In late November, the new pope traveled to the Middle East. According to The New York Times, Pope Leo XIV began this visit, the first foreign trip of his papacy, by going to Turkey.

He was there for four days.

On Thursday, Nov. 27, the pope had a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In the following days, the pope visited Catholic clergy in the area and representatives of other Christian denominations, including the Head of the Eastern Orthodox church, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople.

NPR reported that the pope spoke at Istanbul's Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, giving praise to the church for its work helping migrants and immigrants in Turkey. According to NPR, the pope went to the location of the Council of Nicaea, where a statement of faith — still used by a number of Christian denominations today — was created 1700 years ago.

The New York Times reported that the pope took part in an ecumenical service near the ancient ruins of the Byzantine Basilica depicting Saint Neophytos. Moreover, according to BBC News, Pope Leo also followed in the footsteps of his predecessors by going to the Blue Mosque and meeting with other religious leaders.

BBC News reported that Pope Leo warned against giving into "a heightened level of conflict on the global level" at the beginning of his time in Turkey.

NPR reported that the aim of the pope’s trip was to call for the cooperation of world leaders in creating peace. At the start of his trip, Pope Leo stated, "We hope to announce, transmit, proclaim how important peace is throughout the world and to invite all people to come together to search for greater unity, greater harmony." He added that he hopes "to look for the ways that all men and women can truly be brothers and sisters in spite of differences, in spite of different religions, in spite of different beliefs."

According to the New York Times, Pope Leo affirmed his support for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, which has long been the Vatican’s position.

The New York Times reported that the pope continued his trip by traveling to Lebanon, where he met with church and government officials. Lebanon is the home of the largest Catholic community in the Arab world.

The pope made this journey during a delicate moment. Even though Israel and Lebanon are currently observing a fragile truce, Israel claims to have struck Hezbollah targets inside the country in response to alleged violations of ceasefire terms, according to BBC News. There have been accusations of ceasefire violations on both sides.

The visit proved to be a test of the pope’s diplomatic skills. BBC News reported that, while Pope Leo has not been as overtly political as his predecessor, Pope Francis, he has spoken out about issues that are important to him, like the dignity of migrants.

Pope Leo has quietly maintained many of Pope Francis’ progressive ideals while also taking in the messages of traditionalists. According to BBC News, Pope Leo ended his visit to Lebanon by attending mass at the site of the port explosion that occurred on the Beirut waterfront in 2020. The pope prayed for more than 200 people who were killed and 7,000 others who were injured.

Karishma Ramkarran ’27 contributed fact checking.