The Vatican announced on Tuesday that Pope Leo XIV will embark on a six-day apostolic journey to Turkey and Lebanon starting in late November, his first foreign trip since assuming leadership of the Catholic Church.
According to Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni, the 70-year-old American pontiff will visit Turkey from November 27 to 30, where he is expected to make a pilgrimage to Iznik to commemorate the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea.
Bruni added that the pope will then proceed to Lebanon from November 30 to December 2, with full details of the itinerary to be released later.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, a Maronite Christian, described the upcoming papal visit as a “historic moment.”
He extended the invitation to Leo during a meeting at the Vatican in June.
“The papal visit is a call for peace, for the rooting of the Christian presence in the East, and for the preservation of the Lebanese model, which the world and the region need,” said Aoun in a statement.
Pope Leo had earlier expressed his wish to visit Iznik in celebration of the Nicaea anniversary, a landmark event in Church history.
The trip had initially been planned for May under Pope Francis, who passed away on April 21 at the age of 88.
The Council of Nicaea, held in 325 AD in what is now Iznik, about 100 kilometres southeast of Istanbul, marked the first ecumenical council in Christian history.
Convened by Emperor Constantine, it brought together bishops from across the Roman Empire and produced the Nicene Creed, a foundational statement affirming belief in one God in three persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit.
The second leg of Pope Leo’s trip will focus heavily on peace efforts in Lebanon, a multi-faith nation that has pledged to disarm non-state armed groups, particularly Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shiite faction.
A source close to the Lebanese organizing committee told AFP that the pontiff is also expected to visit the Sanctuary of Saint Charbel, located north of Beirut.
Despite a ceasefire that took effect in November 2024, Israel continues to maintain troops in southern Lebanon, citing strategic defense concerns.
Israeli forces still conduct occasional strikes, claiming to target Hezbollah fighters and infrastructure.
The last papal visit to Lebanon took place in 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI, while Pope Francis last visited Turkey in 2014, meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his stop in Ankara and Istanbul.
