Pope Leo XIV said on Thursday that he hoped to visit Turkey in the coming months for a Christian religious commemoration, in what could be his first overseas trip as pontiff.
“I hope to be able to meet you again in a few months to take part in the ecumenical commemoration of the anniversary of the Council of Nicaea,” Leo said at a meeting with members of an Orthodox and Catholic pilgrimage from the United States.
This year marks the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, a milestone in Church history, held in what is now the Turkish city of İznik.
Convened by the Emperor Constantine in 325 AD, the council was the first to bring together Christian bishops from across the Roman Empire.
It resulted in a statement of faith — the Nicene Creed — intended to exclude certain heresies.
The creed confirmed there was one God who exists in three parts — the Father, the Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit — which remains key doctrine for most Christian denominations.
The late Pope Francis was to visit Turkey for the anniversary of the Nicaea Council in May, but the trip was cancelled due to his ill-health before he died on April 21 at the age of 88.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, has said Leo wanted to come to Turkey, mentioning November 30, Saint Andrew’s Day, as a possible date.
Turkey’s first lady, Emine Erdoğan, met with the pope in a private audience at the Vatican earlier this month. Pope Leo told Erdoğan that he plans to visit Turkey at the end of November, with officials from both sides currently working on the details, according to the Turkish presidency.
© Agence France-Presse