Pope Leo XIV to bring message of peace in visit to Turkey and Lebanon, his first foreign trip

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, October 12 ------ Pope Leo XIV said his first foreign trip, to Turkey and Lebanon next month, would provide a historic opportunity to promote Christian unity while bringing a message of peace and hope to Lebanon's long-suffering people and the broader Middle East.

Leo outlined the trip, announced by the Vatican Tuesday on the anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in southern Israel, during an encounter with reporters as he left the papal country estate south of Rome. Leo will travel first to Turkey from Nov. 27-30, then Lebanon from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2. The trip to Turkey will include a pilgrimage to Iznik to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicea, Christianity's first ecumenical council.

The anniversary is an important moment in Catholic-Orthodox relations, since the 325 A.D. Nicea meeting predates the schisms that divided Christianity’s East from West and is accepted by Catholic and Orthodox churches alike. Leo told reporters as he left the papal retreat in Castel Gandolfo on Tuesday that the anniversary offered “a moment of authentic unity in the faith” with Orthodox Christians, “a historic moment not to look back but to look forward.”

Francis had planned to mark it with his own trip to Turkey in May at the invitation of Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians. Francis died in April, and Leo said from the start of his pontificate that he intended to fulfill Francis' plans.

Source: mb.com.ph