Pope Leo entered Turkey and Lebanon for the first trip abroad as a leader of the Catholic Church

Pope Leo will begin his first trip without the leader of the Catholic Church on Thursday, traveling to Turkey and Lebanon, where he is expected to make appeals for peace in the region and to increase unity among Christian churches long divided among other alliances.

Leo, the first US Pope, will give his first speeches to foreign governments and visit important cultural sites as part of a public tour during November 27-Del. 2 Journey.

His Papa Papa Fopa had planned to visit both of them but could not make it due to his increasing health.

Francis died on April 21 and Leo, who hails from Chicago, was elected Pope on May 8 by universal suffrage.

“The pope’s first foreign trip is an opportunity to grab and hold the world’s attention,” said John Thavis, a retired Vatican columnist who has covered popes on the ground.

“What stands out for Pope Leo is his ability to communicate with a wide audience, in a region where war and peace, communication needs and dialogue and communication problems and conflicts are important issues,” said Thavis.

Meetings with the Orthodox Christian leader

Leo first travels to Turkey from November 27 to November 30, where he has events with Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of 260 million Orthodox Christians, based in Istanbul.

Peace is expected to be the main theme of Leo’s visit to Leonon, which has the largest percentage of Middle Eastern Christians.

On Sunday, Israel killed Iran – Iran – Iran – Iran supported by Hezbollah Himpiry Comty in an Airstrike in the underground area of ​​Beirut, despite the carrier of the US-blocred the truce last year.

Leaders in Lebanon, which has also buried Syrian and Palestinian refugees and is struggling to recover after years of economic crisis, hope the papal visit will bring the country to light.

An off-the-cuff moment in October raised security concerns about Leo’s visit to Lebanon. The Queen of Jordan, visiting Leo in the Vatican, asked the Pope if he thought it was safe to travel to the country. “Yeah, we’re going,” Leo replied.

Traveling abroad has become a big part of the modern papacy, with popes attracting international attention as they lead events with crowds sometimes of millions, give foreign policy speeches and conduct foreign policy talks.

Following Francis

Francis, who has made 47 foreign visits over his 12-year career, often grabs headlines when he pursues false ideas.

The late Pope was known to give unusually different answers at press conferences on the fly to news of the funeral procession of the leading media, one of the few times a church leader interacted with the long-distance followers.

Leo has a reserved style and often speaks in prepared texts. He has given only one special interview in his six months as pope.

“What we have seen so far is a very strong pope when he speaks,” said Rev. Thomas Reese, Jesuit priest and commentator. “But all methods are dangerous. There are always errors or mistakes.”

In Turkey, Leo and Bartholomew will celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of the great Council of the first church that took place in Nicaea, now, and created the creed that many 2.6 billion Christians still worship today.

Orthodox Christians split in the East-West Schism of 1054, but have generally strengthened their relationship in recent decades.

Reverend John ChrySsavgis, a counselor at Bartholomew, said the request “is especially meaningful as a sign and pledge of unity in another country that is broken and conflicted.”

Other Orthodox Christian leaders are expected to attend the birthday celebration, but the Vatican did not say who.

The Moscow Patriarchate, an Orthodox community closely associated with Russian President Vladimir Putin who severed ties with Bartholomew in 2018, is not expected to participate.

Weight held

Leo will also visit the Istanbul Blue Mosque, his first visit as a pope to a mosque, and he will celebrate the mass of Catholics in Istanbul’s Volkswagen Arena.

Rev. Nicola Masedu, the priest of Istanbul Canociler of the Holy Spirit, expressed interest in the new visit of the Pope and attended the LED organizers to move the mass to the church, which can hold 5,000 people.

Turkey, a Muslim-majority nation, has 36,000 adherents out of a population of nearly 85 million, according to Vatican figures.

Leo’s schedule in Lebanon includes a prayer at the site of the 2020 chemical explosion in the port of Beirut that killed 200 people and caused billions of dollars.

The Pope will also hold a religious meeting and lead an outdoor mass at the Beirut Waterfront. Leo will visit five villages and towns in the country but will not be able to go to the south, which has been the target of Israeli strikes.

Rev. ABEBEUD, who heads his country’s Catholic charity network in Lebanon, told the Vatican Media Outlet that the Pope’s visit was another “unity.”

“People will know that, despite all the difficult situations they’ve been through, they shouldn’t feel abandoned,” she said.