{"id":157656,"date":"2025-11-28T16:05:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T16:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/157656\/"},"modified":"2025-11-28T16:05:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T16:05:08","slug":"pope-leo-xiv-travels-to-historic-christian-site-in-turkey-to-pray-for-unity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/157656\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Leo XIV travels to historic Christian site in Turkey to pray for unity"},"content":{"rendered":"

IZNIK, Turkey — IZNIK, Turkey (AP) \u2014 Pope Leo XIV<\/a> traveled Friday to join Orthodox patriarchs in commemorating an important moment in Christian history, gathering at the site in Turkey of an unprecedented A.D. 325 meeting<\/a> of bishops to pray that Christians might once again be reunited.<\/p>\n

Leo, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and other Christian leaders were meeting on the shores of Lake Iznik, the site of the Council of Nicaea that produced a creed, or statement of faith, that is still recited by millions of Christians today.<\/p>\n

Leo flew by helicopter to Iznik from Istanbul to take part in an ecumenical prayer to commemorate the 1,700th anniversary of the Nicaea meeting, the highlight of his visit to Turkey. He arrived just after the Muslim call to prayer rang out from a nearby mosque.<\/p>\n

The Nicaea gathering happened at a time when the Eastern and Western churches were still united. They split in the Great Schism of 1054, a divide precipitated largely by disagreements over the primacy of the pope. But even today, Catholic, Orthodox and most historic Protestant groups accept the Nicaean Creed<\/a>, making it a point of agreement and the most widely accepted creed in Christendom.<\/p>\n

As a result, celebrating its origins at the site of its creation with the spiritual leaders of the Catholic and Orthodox churches and other Christian representatives marked a historic moment in the centuries-old quest to reunite all Christians. <\/p>\n

In Iznik, the Christian leaders were to light candles and pray at the lakeside archaeological excavations of the ancient Basilica of Saint Neophytos in a service featuring alternating Catholic and Orthodox hymns.<\/p>\n

The stone foundations of the basilica, which were recently uncovered by the receding waters of Lake Iznik, are believed to be on the site of an earlier church that hosted the council 1,700 years ago.<\/p>\n

Speaking Friday before arriving, Leo said the creed wasn\u2019t merely a doctrinal formula, but the \u201cessential core of the Christian faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTherefore, its development is organic, akin to that of a living reality, gradually bringing to light and expressing more fully the essential heart of the faith,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Christians are a minority in predominantly Sunni Muslim Turkey, and ahead of the prayer in Iznik, around 20 members of a small Turkish Islamic party staged a brief protest, saying the encounter posed a threat to Turkey\u2019s sovereignty and national identity. <\/p>\n

Under a heavy police presence, Mehmet Kaygusuz, a member of the New Welfare Party, read a statement denouncing what he said were efforts to establish a \u201cVatican-like Greek Orthodox state\u201d in Turkey. The group dispersed peacefully shortly after.<\/p>\n

Leo arrived in Turkey <\/a> on Thursday, emphasizing a message of peace as he met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It\u2019s a message he\u2019ll bring to Lebanon on Sunday, the second and final leg of the trip for history\u2019s first American pope.<\/p>\n

Iznik resident Suleyman Bulut, 35, acknowledged his town\u2019s deep historical and spiritual significance for Christians and said he had no issue with them coming to honor their heritage. \u201cMuslims (too) should go and visit places that belong to us in the rest of the world, in Europe,\u201d he said. But Hasan Maral, a 41-year-old shopkeeper said he felt uncomfortable with visit. \u201cThe pope coming here feels contradictory to my faith,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Leo began his first full day in Istanbul by encouraging Turkey\u2019s tiny Catholic community to find strength in their small numbers. According to Vatican statistics, Catholics number around 33,000 in a nation of 85 million, most of whom are Sunni Muslims.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe logic of littleness is the church\u2019s true strength,\u201d Leo told them in English. \u201cThe significant presence of migrants and refugees in this country presents the church with the challenge of welcoming and serving some of the most vulnerable.\u201d<\/p>\n

He received a raucous welcome at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, where he was greeted with shouts of \u201cPapa Leo\u201d and \u201cViva il Papa\u201d (Long Live the pope).<\/p>\n

Leo later visited with a group of nuns, the Little Sisters of the Poor, who run a nursing home in Istanbul.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was so simple. We just felt he was at home. He felt very much at ease. Everybody got what they expected: a blessing, a kind word. It\u2019s just enormous,\u201d said Sister Margret of the Little Sisters of the Poor Nursing Home.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Leo continues with his ecumenical focus, meeting with Bartholomew and other Christian leaders. But he\u2019ll also visit the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, commonly known as the Blue Mosque, and will celebrate a late afternoon Mass in Istanbul\u2019s Volkswagen Arena.<\/p>\n

He travels on Sunday to Lebanon, the second and final leg of his trip.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Winfield reported from Istanbul. Associated Press writers Serra Yedikardes in Istanbul and Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP\u2019s collaboration<\/a> with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"IZNIK, Turkey — IZNIK, Turkey (AP) \u2014 Pope Leo XIV traveled Friday to join Orthodox patriarchs in commemorating…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":157657,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[95120,127,8742,122,42,9151,43,94131,7319,40,38,41,39,126],"class_list":{"0":"post-157656","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-95120","9":"tag-article","10":"tag-christianity","11":"tag-general-news","12":"tag-headlines","13":"tag-islam","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-orthodox-church","16":"tag-religion","17":"tag-top-news","18":"tag-top-stories","19":"tag-topnews","20":"tag-topstories","21":"tag-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157656\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}