Pope Leo XIV gets warm welcome from Turkey’s Catholics on first foreign trip : NPR
Pope Leo
Domenico Stinellis/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Domenico Stinellis/AP
ISTANBUL, Turkey — Pope Leo
Shouts of “Papa Leo” and “Viva il Papa” (Long live the Pope) erupted, accompanied by cheers and applause inside and outside Istanbul’s Holy Spirit Cathedral, as Leo arrived to begin his first full day in Turkey.
Leo led a prayer with Catholic clergy and nuns from Türkiye before participating in the main reason for his visit, the first of his pontificate. It will commemorate the 1,700th anniversary of one of the most important moments in Christianity: the gathering of bishops in 325 AD that gave birth to the Nicene Creed, a statement of faith that millions of Christians still recite today.
The gathering took place at a time when the Eastern and Western Churches were still united. They split during the Great Schism of 1054, a division precipitated largely by disagreements over the primacy of the pope. But even today, Catholic, Orthodox, and most historic Protestant groups accept the Nicene Creed, making it a point of agreement and the most widely accepted symbol in Christianity.
Accordingly, celebrating its foundations is an important milestone in the centuries-old quest for the reunification of all Christians.
Speaking at the cathedral, Leo said the creed was not just a doctrinal formula, but the “essential core of the Christian faith”.
“That is why its development is organic, like that of a living reality, gradually bringing to light and expressing more fully the essential core of the faith,” he said.
The anniversary commemoration will take place in Iznik, site of the Council of Nicaea gathering, about 150 kilometers (93 miles) from Istanbul. The presidency, along with Leo, will be held by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians.
Leo arrived in Türkiye on Thursday, emphasizing a message of peace during his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This is a message he will bring to Lebanon on Sunday, the second and final stop on the trip of the first American pope in history.
Pope Leo
Yavuz Ozden/AP/IAD Photo
hide caption
toggle caption
Yavuz Ozden/AP/IAD Photo
At the cathedral on Tuesday, Leo sought to encourage Turkey’s small Catholic community, which numbers about 33,000 in a country of 85 million people, most of whom are Sunni Muslims. He particularly praised the Church’s work with migrants and new arrivals in Türkiye.
“The logic of smallness is the true strength of the Church,” Leo told them in English. “The significant presence of migrants and refugees in this country presents the Church with the challenge of welcoming and serving some of the most vulnerable.”
It was a message that resonated with the crowds outside and reflected the multinational face of the Catholic Church in Türkiye.
“I am so happy with all my heart,” said Debora Martina Da Silva, a political science student from Guinea-Bissau.
Mateusz Zajdecki, a 21-year-old from Szczecin, Poland, recognized the ecumenical importance of Leon’s visit.
“I think it is important that Turkey is united around one table, the Eucharistic table, and prays together to one father who is in heaven,” Zajdecki said.
