As part of his first international tour, Pope Leo XIV, who was elected spiritual leader of the Catholic Church and Head of the Vatican City State on May 8, 2025, arrived in Ankara on Thursday for his scheduled visit to Turkey.
Between November 27 and 30, there will be a visit to commemorate the 1700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea, where Jesus Christ was proclaimed divine.
Pope Leo XIV will meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and President of Religious Affairs Safi Arpaguş after visiting Anıtkabir, the Atatürk mausoleum in Ankara.
The Pope wrote in the Anıtkabir Special Guestbook, “I thank God for granting me the privilege of visiting Turkey,” and placed a red and white wreath on the monument’s stairs. I hope this nation and its citizens experience peace and prosperity.
Travel to Iznik and Istanbul
On Friday morning, November 28, Pope Leo will continue his journey to Turkey by meeting with bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated religious, and pastoral workers at Saint Esprit Church in Istanbul.
The French Almshouse, which is connected to the Little Sisters of the Poor community, will next be visited by the Pope.
He will next go by helicopter to Iznik to join an ecumenical prayer session near the excavation site of the ancient Basilica of Saint Neophytos. The Pope will meet with bishops at the Apostolic Delegation after returning to Istanbul the same day.
Why is the visit to Nicaea important?
Prior to his death in April, Pope Francis made it clear in his verbal will that his successor would have to travel to Nicaea. Leo XIV of the United States is traveling to commemorate the 1700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea, which took place in 325 and acknowledged Jesus Christ as divine.
The Pope’s visit to Nicaea explicitly echoes one of the most crucial turning moments in Christian history. The foundational ideas of Christianity, especially the dogma of the Trinity, originated in Nicaea, which is acknowledged as the site of the First Council of Nicaea.
The theology of the Trinity is considered as the foundational teaching of Christianity, wherein the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are accepted as one God. One of the most important choices that shaped Christianity’s dominant theological framework was this idea.