8+ hour, 30+ min ago (519+ words) Pope Leo XIV wraps up a four-day trip to Turkey Sunday after a warm welcome by its tiny Christian community, before heading to Lebanon with a message of peace for the crisis-mired nation." On his first overseas trip since being elected leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, Leo met President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before travelling to Iznik for a celebration marking 1,700 years since the First Council of Nicaea, one of the early Church's most important gatherings." On Saturday, the American pope hosted thousands of worshippers who battled the rain to attend a public mass in Istanbul, with many travelling from across Turkey to join the multilingual service, which left many moved by its beautiful and haunting choral interludes." On his final morning, Leo was expected to attend a prayer service at the Armenian cathedral then lead a divine liturgy " the…...

18+ hour, 46+ min ago (719+ words) Thousands of worshippers battled the rain to join Pope Leo XIV as he celebrated mass in Istanbul on Saturday, the last full day of his visit to Turkey." Earlier, the leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics visited Istanbul's Blue Mosque, huddled with local church leaders and met Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I at his palace on the banks of the Golden Horn estuary. After two days of blue skies and sunshine, the heavens opened, but the downpour did little to dampen the enthusiasm of those in attendance, some of whom had travelled for hours to see Leo on his first overseas trip as pope." Ahead of the ceremony, the streets were filled with umbrellas as people walked through the rain towards the stadium, the crowd giving off a palpable buzz of excitement." "I'm going to the mass, for me it's…...

1+ day, 6+ hour ago (487+ words) Pope Leo XIV will visit Istanbul's famed Blue Mosque early on Saturday on the third day of his trip to Turkey. It will be the first time the American pope, who was elected in May as leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, visits a Muslim place of worship since taking over from his late predecessor Francis, who championed dialogue with Islam. With such a highly symbolic gesture, Leo follows in the footsteps of Pope Benedict XVI, who visited the site in 2006, and Francis who did the same in 2014 accompanied by the Grand Mufti of Istanbul. But unlike them, he will not be visiting the nearby Hagia Sophia, the legendary sixth-century basilica, which was built during the Byzantine Empire and converted into a mosque following the conquest of Constantinople in 1453. In a key reform by post-Ottoman Turkish authorities led by Mustafa…...

2+ day, 3+ hour ago (474+ words) Muslim-majority Turkey, which is hosting Pope Leo XIV on his first overseas trip as pontiff, is not "a hostile environment" for Christians, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople told AFP in an interview. "It is simplistic to see adversaries everywhere and to imagine the pope's visit as taking sides in a hostile environment," said Patriarch Bartholomew I, leader of the world's 260 million Orthodox Christians. On Friday, Bartholomew joins Leo for celebrations in Iznik, around two hours from Istanbul, to mark 1,700 years since the First Council of Nicaea, a key early Church gathering that resulted in a statement of faith still central to Christianity. After arriving in Ankara on Thursday and meeting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom critics have accused of wanting to Islamise society, the pope described Turkey as a "crossroads of sensibilities" that was richer for its "internal diversity". Turkey…...

2+ day, 6+ hour ago (675+ words) Pope Leo XIV joins the leader of the world's Orthodox Christians Friday to celebrate 1,700 years since one of the early Church's most important gatherings, on the second day of his visit to Turkey. The American pope began his four-day visit on Thursday, flying into Ankara where he held talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, urging him to embrace Turkey's role as mediator in a world gripped by conflict. "Mr President, may Turkey be a source of stability and rapprochement between peoples, in service of a just and lasting peace," the pontiff told the Turkish leader as he kicked off the first overseas trip of his papacy. Tight security meant the papal convoy swept through nearly empty streets in Ankara on a visit that has drawn little attention in this Muslim-majority nation of 86 million, whose Christian community numbers only around 100,000. "This…...

3+ day, 8+ hour ago (727+ words) Pope Leo XIV flies to Turkey Thursday for the first trip abroad of his papacy, which includes a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and comes amid acute tensions in the region. The trip, which includes a second leg to Lebanon, begins in the Turkish capital Ankara, where the first American pope is expected to arrive shortly after midday." There he will address authorities, civil society and the diplomatic corps before heading to Istanbul in the early evening. Leo's first steps abroad will be scrutinised by the world's media, with more than 80 journalists accompanying him on his papal plane. Since his election in May as the leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, the pope has shown himself to be adept at handling the media, talking to reporters weekly. In a sign of his desire to reach a wide audience, Leo…...

3+ day, 19+ hour ago (842+ words) Rachelle Mazraani is travelling from Sydney to Beirut for Pope Leo XIV's visit this week, one of many Lebanese at home and abroad who hope the trip will revive their struggling country. After visiting Turkey, Leo is to arrive in Lebanon on Sunday for a three-day trip that includes an open-air mass at Beirut's waterfront that organisers expect to draw 120,000 people. He will also hold a special meeting with those aged 16 to 35 in Bkerke, north of Beirut, where the patriarchate of Lebanon's Maronite Church is located. "As a young Lebanese woman living abroad, this visit represents a deep reassurance that Lebanon is not forgotten," the Australian-born Mazraani, 23, who works in sales and marketing, told AFP by telephone. She is among some 500 young people from church delegations from several countries who will attend the pope's youth meeting on Monday. Leo's visit…...

4+ day, 9+ hour ago (519+ words) The popemobile used by the late pope Francis on his 2014 visit to Bethlehem re-emerged on Tuesday as a mobile children's clinic to be deployed in Gaza. The vehicle is still unmistakeable as a popemobile: pristine white inside and out, and with the familiar raised canopy. But instead of transporting the leader of the world's 1.4 billion Roman Catholics, the re-branded "Vehicle of Hope" is now set to serve in the war-battered Gaza Strip, in accordance with the late pope's wishes. It was unveiled in Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, around the corner from the Church of the Nativity and Manger Square, where preparations are well underway for Christmas. "The Vehicle of Hope is ready for its new mission," Cardinal Anders Arborelius, the Bishop of Stockholm, told a press conference, after blessing the vehicle. "We want every child we reach to…...

5+ day, 4+ hour ago (828+ words) Charbel Matar says a Lebanese saint saved his life when he was a child. Now, he is among pilgrims of all faiths who visit Saint Charbel's tomb, soon to be graced by Pope Leo XIV. "My family and I have great faith in Saint Charbel and always visit him," said Matar, 69, at the Saint Maron Monastery in Annaya in the mountains of north Lebanon." "I almost died when I was five. He performed a miracle and saved me from death, and kept me alive for 64 more years," said Matar, whose parents changed his name from Roger to Charbel to honour the saint. In Pope Leo's first trip abroad since becoming head of the Catholic Church, the US-born pontiff will travel to Turkey and Lebanon, arriving in Beirut on November 30 and visiting the Annaya monastery the following day. Saint Charbel has broad…...

5+ day, 23+ hour ago (742+ words) When it was discovered a decade ago, the 4th-century basilica of Nicaea was totally submerged, its importance to early Christian history hidden beneath a lake in northwestern Turkey." Now, the church in Iznik, a small town several hours from Istanbul, stands on dry land, its ruins exposed as the waters that engulfed it for more than 700 years have receded due to climate change. Known as the Basilica of the Holy Fathers, it marks the site of one of the early Church's most important gatherings which took place in Nicaea 12 years after the Roman Empire legalised Christianity, ending years of persecution, torture and death. In AD 325, Constantine the Great convened the First Council of Nicaea, a gathering of 318 bishops who, after two months of intense debate, drafted the Nicaean Creed, a statement of faith still central to Christianity." Pope Leo XIV's…...