The third day of Pope Leo XIV’s apostolic visit to Türkiye included touring the Sultan Ahmed Mosque but declining to briefly pray there, meeting with numerous Christian Church leaders in commemoration of the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, and celebrating Mass in Istanbul.
Pope Leo toured the mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque, early Nov. 29. According to the Associated Press, ahead of the visit the Vatican had said Pope Leo would observe a “brief moment of silent prayer” in the mosque, as Pope Benedict XVI did when he visited the Blue Mosque in 2006 and as Pope Francis did in 2014. Asgin Tunca, an imam of the mosque, said he invited Pope Leo to pray but the Pontiff declined, according to the outlet.
A Nov. 29 Vatican press release states: “The Pope visited 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.”
Pope Leo meets with Church leaders
After the visit to the mosque, Pope Leo went to the Syriac Orthodox Church of Mor Ephrem and met with Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I and representatives from the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and other Christian communions for an ecumenical encounter marking the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, according to Vatican News.
They had a private meeting with short interventions from each leader and then Pope Leo gave an address greeting Patriarch Bartholomew I, according to the release.
Noting that Patriarch Bartholomew I had personally met with several previous pontiffs, Pope Leo said, “I am certain that our own encounter will also help to strengthen the bonds of our friendship, which already began to deepen when we first met at the start of my ministry as Bishop of Rome, especially during the solemn celebration of the Holy Eucharist, at which Your All Holiness was kind enough to be present.”
>> On Day 2 in Türkiye, Pope Leo reflects on human dignity, faith <<
Pope Leo also said that throughout his visit to Türkiye, “we experienced extraordinary moments of grace as we commemorated, together with our brothers and sisters in faith, the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea.”
“By remembering that highly significant event, and inspired by the prayer of Jesus that all his disciples may be one (cf. Jn 17:21),” he added, “we are encouraged in our commitment to seek the restoration of full communion among all Christians, a task that we undertake with God’s help.”
Pope Leo and Patriarch Bartholomew I also issued a joint declaration Nov. 29 expressing commitment to efforts to reach full communion and especially to finding a solution to celebrating Easter on the same date. They also decried the conflicts and violence affecting regions around the world and urged for civil and political leaders to work to end the conflicts.
“In particular, we reject any use of religion and the name of God to justify violence,” they said. “We believe that authentic interreligious dialogue, far from being a cause of syncretism and confusion, is essential for the coexistence of peoples of different traditions and cultures.”
They also said that though the current international situation is alarming, they do not lose hope, adding that in prayer, they entrust every person to God.
“We invoke upon each member of the human family every grace and blessing so that ‘their hearts may be encouraged, as they are knit together in love, to have all the riches of assured understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery,’ who is our Lord Jesus Christ,” they concluded.
Pope Leo speaks on Advent resolutions in homily
Later Nov. 29, Pope Leo celebrated Mass in the Volkswagen Arena in Istanbul for the First Sunday of Advent. According to Euronews, thousands of Catholics attended.
Pope Leo spoke in the homily about the readings for the liturgy, encouraging the faithful to be Christian witnesses by cultivating prayer, frequenting the sacraments, and living in charity. He also emphasized the importance of working to build unity within one’s community, within ecumenical relations with people in other Christian denominations, and “in our encounters with brothers and sisters belonging to other religions.”
“Taking care of these three bonds, strengthening and expanding them in every way possible, is part of our vocation to be a city set on a hill,” he said. “The first bond of unity that I just mentioned is the one within this Church, which in this country consists of four different liturgical traditions — Latin, Armenian, Chaldean and Syriac.”
Each of these traditions “contributes its own spiritual, historical and ecclesial richness,” he said. “The sharing of these differences clearly demonstrate one of the most beautiful features of the face of the Bride of Christ: a catholicity that unites. The unity that binds us together around the altar is a gift from God. As such, it is strong and invincible, because it is the work of His grace.”
He emphasized that efforts to such unity are entrusted to the faithful, who must do what they can to help foster and strengthen the bonds.
Pope Leo also extolled the efforts toward ecumenical unity and greeted those in attendance who are non-Catholic Christians. He spoke about cultivating unity with people from non-Christian communities as well, noting that “we want to walk together by appreciating what unites us, breaking down the walls of prejudice and mistrust, promoting mutual knowledge and esteem in order to give to all a strong message of hope and an invitation to become ‘peacemakers’ (Mt 5:9).
“Dear friends, let us make these values our resolutions for the season of Advent and even more so for our personal and communal life. We journey as if on a bridge that connects earth to Heaven, a bridge that the Lord has built for us. Let us always keep our eyes fixed on both shores, so that we may love God and our brothers and sisters with all our hearts in order to journey together and find ourselves one day united in the house of the Father.”
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