Pope Leo visits iconic Blue Mosque on second day of his trip to Turkey
Pope Leo XIV began the second day of his trip to Türkiye on Saturday with a visit to the Blue Mosque in Istanbul.
Leo was following in the footsteps of his recent predecessors, all of whom made high-profile visits to the mosque as a sign of respect for Turkey’s Muslim majority.
This is the Pope’s first trip abroad. He will also visit Lebanon.
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Spokesman Matteo Bruni issued a statement after questions were raised about whether or not Leo was praying in the mosque, describing the visit to the mosque as a silent visit to contemplate.
Bruni said: “The Pope lived his visit to the mosque in silence, in a spirit of contemplation and listening, with deep respect for the place and the faith of those who gather there in prayer. »
Past papal visits to the mosque have always raised questions about whether popes would pray at the Muslim house of worship or whether they would simply go there as a sign of respect to Muslims.
Asgin Tunca said he invited Leo to pray, but the pope refused.
Speaking to reporters after the visit, Tunca said he told the pope that the mosque was “the house of Allah.”
“It is not my house, nor yours, (it is) the house of Allah,” he said. He said he told Leo, “‘If you want, you can worship here,’ I said. But he said, ‘It’s okay.'”
“He wanted to see the mosque, feel (the) atmosphere of the mosque, I think. And he was very happy,” he said.
Leo visited Istanbul’s iconic mosque, where the head of Turkey’s Diyanet Religious Affairs Directorate showed him the structure’s blue-tiled dome.
The Vatican said Leo would observe a “brief minute of silent prayer.”
Leo was following in the footsteps of his recent predecessors, all of whom made high-profile visits to the mosque as a sign of respect for Turkey’s Muslim majority.
