Pope Leo visits Istanbul’s Blue Mosque
Pope Leo XIV visited Istanbul’s Sultan Ahmed Mosque, also known as the Sultanahmet Mosque, in his first visit to a Muslim place of worship since taking office in May.
The Pope was seen bowing as he entered the building, but it was reported that he did not pray in the mosque as his two predecessors did.
The Vatican said in a statement that Leo conducted the tour “in the spirit of reflection and listening, with deep respect for the place and the faith of those who pray there.”
The Pope will visit Lebanon after his four-day trip to Türkiye.
Later, he was welcomed by Patriarch Bartholomew, head of the Eastern Orthodox Church, at St. George’s Cathedral in Istanbul.
The Blue Mosque is officially named after Sultan Ahmed I, who was the leader of the Ottoman Empire between 1603 and 1617 and oversaw its construction.
It is decorated with thousands of blue and turquoise ceramics and welcomes millions of visitors every year.
Pope Francis prayed there in 2014, and Pope Benedict XVI did so in 2006.
The first pope to officially enter a mosque was Pope Paul II, who made history by visiting the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus in 2001. It was John Paul.
The Pope’s visit to Turkey and Lebanon was planned by the late Pope Francis, but its bridge-building theme was adopted by Pope Leo from the moment he stepped onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica following his election in May.
At the beginning of his trip, he warned that the world should not succumb to the “increasing level of conflict globally”, adding that “the future of humanity is at stake”.
In Lebanon, where an estimated one-third of the country is Christian, he is expected to meet more faith leaders and learn from young people.
On the last day of the trip, he will celebrate Mass on the Beirut coast at the site of the 2020 port explosion and pray for the more than 200 people who died and the more than 7,000 others.
