The Vatican announced on Monday that Pope Leo XIV will pray at the site of the Beirut port explosion, which occurred five years ago, during a trip to Turkey and Lebanon in November.
This will be the first foreign trip for the American pope since his inauguration in May, following the death of Argentine Pope Francis.
Pope Leo XIV will start his trip in Turkey, where he will participate in the commemoration of the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea—a major event in Christian history.
He will arrive in Ankara on November 27, where he will meet with President Erdoğan, officials, civil society organizations, and diplomats before heading to Istanbul.
On November 28, the pope will visit the city of İznik (formerly Nicaea), located southwest of Istanbul, for one day and will lead an ecumenical prayer there.
Emperor Constantine I convened the Council of Nicaea in this city in 325 AD. It gathered 300 bishops from the Roman Empire and established the foundations of Christian doctrine still embraced by many denominations today.
On November 29, the pope will visit the famous Blue Mosque in Istanbul and meet with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I before celebrating a public mass.
He will then travel to Beirut on November 30, where he will meet Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.
On December 1, the pope will visit the tomb of Lebanon’s patron saint, Saint Charbel Makhlouf, at the Monastery of Saint Maron in Annaya, north of Beirut.
In a poignant moment, he will hold a silent prayer on December 2 at the site of the Beirut port explosion, which occurred in the summer of 2020, killing more than 220 people and devastating a large part of the Lebanese capital.
With this visit, Leo XIV becomes the third pope to visit Lebanon, following John Paul II in 1997 and Benedict XVI in 2012.
The last papal visit to Turkey was by Pope Francis in 2014, during which he met President Erdoğan.
Pope Francis had planned to make this trip to Turkey and Lebanon at the end of May, but he passed away on April 21 at the age of 88.