Pope Leo XIV Opens Turkiye Visit with Prayer and Message of Unity

Updated by Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 1449 EAT on Friday 28 November 2025

Shouts of “Papa Leo” and “Viva il Papa” (Long live the Pope) echoed through Istanbul’s Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, accompanied by enthusiastic cheering and applause, as Pope Leo XIV arrived to begin his first visit to Turkiye.

The pontiff led a prayer service with Turkish Catholic clergy and religious sisters before turning to the main purpose of his trip—the first of his pontificate: marking the 1,700th anniversary of the historic 325 AD Council of Nicaea.

At this council, bishops formulated the Nicene Creed, a declaration of faith still recited by millions of Christians worldwide, professing belief in one God, recognizing Jesus as the human Son of God, and affirming the Holy Spirit as an equal person in the Trinity.

The council took place when Eastern and Western churches were still unified, long before the Great Schism of 1054 divided them, primarily over papal authority. Despite this split, the Nicene Creed remains widely embraced by Catholic, Orthodox, and most traditional Protestant denominations, standing as one of the few points of consensus in Christendom. The anniversary, therefore, represents a milestone in the centuries-long pursuit of Christian unity.

Addressing the congregation at the cathedral, Pope Leo emphasized that the creed is not merely a doctrinal statement but the “essential core of the Christian faith.”

“Therefore, its development is organic, akin to that of a living reality, gradually bringing to light and expressing more fully the essential heart of the faith,” he said.

Pope Leo XIV arrived in Turkiye on Thursday, carrying a message of peace during his meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He is set to extend this message to Lebanon on Sunday, concluding the second and final leg of his historic journey as the first American pope.

At Tuesday’s service at Istanbul’s Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, Leo addressed Turkiye’s small Catholic community of roughly 33,000 members in a predominantly Sunni Muslim nation of 85 million. He commended the church’s outreach to migrants and newcomers, highlighting the moral and spiritual importance of serving society’s most vulnerable.

“The logic of littleness is the church’s true strength,” Leo told the congregation 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.”

His message resonated with the diverse crowd gathered outside, reflecting the multinational character of Turkiye’s Catholic community.

“With all my heart, I am so happy,” said Debora Martina Da Silva, a political science student from Guinea-Bissau.

Mateusz Zajdecki, 21, from Szczecin, Poland, emphasized the ecumenical significance of the pope’s visit. “I think it is important for Turkiye to be united at one table, the eucharistic table, and to pray together to one Father who is in heaven,” he said.

Credit to Aljazeera.