Pope Leo to Visit Turkey and Lebanon on First Overseas Trip, With Appeals for Peace and Christian Unity

📷Cars drive past a billboard depicting Pope Leo XIV, ahead of his planned visit to Lebanon, in Beirut, Lebanon November 25, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

VATICAN CITY, November 26, 2025 (Saudi Arabia Breaking News) – Pope Leo will depart on Thursday for his first trip outside Italy as head of the Catholic Church, travelling to Turkey and Lebanon, where he is expected to call for peace in the region and urge greater unity among long-divided Christian churches.

The visit, taking place from November 27 to December 2, will include the pope’s first speeches to foreign governments and stops at key cultural and religious sites. Leo, the first U.S. pope, was elected on May 8 following the death of Pope Francis on April 21. Francis had planned to visit both countries but was unable to do so due to worsening health.

John Thavis, a retired Vatican correspondent who covered three papacies, said a pope’s first foreign trip is “an opportunity to capture and hold the world’s attention.” He added that the visit will test Pope Leo’s ability to connect with broader audiences in a region where conflict, humanitarian needs, and interfaith dialogue remain central issues.

Joint Events in Turkey with Orthodox Leader

Leo will travel first to Turkey from November 27 to 30, where he will participate in several joint events with Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the world’s 260 million Orthodox Christians, based in Istanbul.

A central theme of the trip will be Christian unity. In Turkey, Leo and Bartholomew will commemorate the 1,700th anniversary of an early Church council held in Nicaea—modern-day Iznik—which produced a creed still recited by much of the world’s 2.6 billion Christians.

Rev. John Chryssavgis, an adviser to Bartholomew, said the event is “especially meaningful as a sign and pledge of unity in an otherwise fragmented and conflicted world.” Several Orthodox leaders are expected to attend, though the Vatican has not confirmed which. The Moscow Patriarchate, closely allied with Russian President Vladimir Putin and which severed ties with Bartholomew in 2018, is not expected to participate.

During his Turkey visit, Leo will also tour Istanbul’s Blue Mosque—his first visit to a Muslim place of worship as pope—and celebrate a Catholic Mass at Volkswagen Arena, which seats around 5,000 people. Turkey, a Muslim-majority nation, has roughly 36,000 Catholics in a population of 85 million, according to Vatican data.

Focus on Peace During Lebanon Visit

Peace is expected to dominate Pope Leo’s visit to Lebanon, home to the largest percentage of Christians in the Middle East. The trip comes days after Israel killed Hezbollah’s top military official in an airstrike on a southern suburb of Beirut, despite a U.S.-brokered truce a year ago.

Lebanese leaders hope the visit will draw global attention to the country’s prolonged economic crisis, ongoing political instability, and the pressures of hosting nearly one million Syrian and Palestinian refugees.

A remark in October raised possible concerns about the pope’s safety in Lebanon. During a meeting at the Vatican, Jordan’s Queen Rania asked whether it was safe for him to travel there, to which Leo replied: “Well, we’re going.”

While in Lebanon, the pope will hold a prayer at the site of the 2020 Beirut port explosion, which killed 200 people and caused billions of dollars in damage. He will also host an inter-religious meeting and lead an outdoor Mass on the Beirut waterfront. Leo will visit five cities and towns in Lebanon but will not travel to the south, which has been targeted by Israeli strikes.

Rev. Michel Abboud, head of the Catholic Church’s charity network in Lebanon, told Vatican media that the visit represents a message of solidarity. “The people will know that, despite all the difficult situations they have gone through, they must not feel abandoned,” he said.

A New Papal Style

Pope Leo, originally from Chicago, has adopted a more reserved communication style than Francis, who made 47 foreign trips during his 12-year papacy and often drew global headlines with unscripted remarks.

Leo tends to speak from prepared texts and has given only one exclusive interview in his six months as pope. Rev. Thomas Reese, a Jesuit commentator, said Leo has so far been “very careful when he speaks,” but noted that “every trip is a risk” where mistakes can occur.

His first overseas journey is expected to draw significant global attention as he navigates complex religious, diplomatic, and humanitarian challenges in the region.