However, this Saturday, Leo, unlike what his predecessors, Benedict XVI and Francis, did when they traveled to the country and visited the same place in 2006 and 2014 respectively, the pope did not have a moment of prayer, as initially planned.
These visits are always sensitive in the complex relations between the Catholic Church and Islam, and the details are carefully measured. In the past, there have been debates about what exactly we should call what the pope does or does not do in the mosque, whether it is a prayer or a moment of remembrance, to avoid theological disputes. Whether by Catholics or Muslims.
In recent decades, it has been considered a clear step toward rapprochement between the two faiths for a pope and a Muslim leader to pray together or for a pope to pray together in a mosque, as happened with Benedict XVI and Francis on their visit to the Blue Mosque, also known as Sultan Ahmed. This gesture was particularly significant during the former’s visit in November 2006, because that trip occurred two months after the controversy sparked by his speech in Regensburg, where Joseph Ratzinger spoke about the use of violence in Islam and, with phrases taken out of context, unleashed a wave of protests in the Muslim world. In fact, there were demonstrations in Istanbul against Benedict XVI.
For this reason it was somewhat surprising that Leo XIV did not follow this custom of sharing a moment of prayer in the Blue Mosque, which seemed already unified. It is not known whether this was deliberate or decided on the spot depending on how the visit went. The fact is that Leo
Now it will be necessary to know whether this gesture will remain just an anecdote or whether it has more intention and connotations, as it can be interpreted that this Pope considers that every religion should have its place and these positions are inappropriate. If so, this would mean a change in course compared to recent popes.
The official Vatican program clearly indicated that Robert Prevost would hold a “moment of silent prayer” in the mosque, and the temple’s muezzin, Asgin Tonca, when asked by reporters, explained that he had invited him to this upon his arrival. However, the event later developed more practically like a tourist visit, with Tonka explaining the history and architecture of the building.
Tonka later commented on the surprised journalists who asked him the question, saying: “They explained to me that the Pope would pray here, and I said there was no problem.” He said: “I told him: This is the house of God. If you want, you can pray. He said to me: It’s okay, let’s continue the visit.”
Shortly thereafter, the Holy See simply noted that the pope “visited the mosque in silence, in the spirit of remembrance and listening, with deep respect for the place and for the faith of all who gather there to pray.”
Türkiye has historically been a major crossroads in the Vatican’s dialogue with other religions, whether with Islam or the Orthodox, as the Patriarch of Constantinople is the highest authority in that community. The first pope to travel, Paul VI, visited Türkiye in 1967, followed by John Paul II in 1979.
The Polish pope was the first pope to take off his shoes and enter the mosque, the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, in 2001. There he prayed in front of the tomb, where, according to tradition, is the head of Saint John the Baptist. Then, before the mufti, he asked for forgiveness “for all the times Muslims and Christians have wronged each other.”