Pope Leo 14 begins his first trip outside Italy this Thursday (27) since his election in May. It will be approximately four days in Türkiye, followed by two days in Lebanon. In the first stage, one of the most important moments must be your visit to the city where the first Christian Ecumenical Council was held in 1,700 years.
The trip to celebrate the Council of Nicaea is a continuation of the program of Pope Francis, who has spoken publicly about his desire to go to Türkiye this year. The Argentine pope died in April.
The council was held in 325 in the city now called Iznik, about 140 kilometers from Istanbul, and played a fundamental role in the history of Christianity. It was held by the Roman Emperor Constantine 12 years after the liberalization of the religious faith and an end to the persecution of Christians, and it included about 300 bishops.
The main task was to find doctrinal formulas that would resolve the differences between religious people that came to the surface after freedom of worship and the major confrontation between groups. Constantine’s fear was that divisions among Christians could threaten the unity of the empire.
The most controversial topic was related to the identity of Jesus and his connection to God. In Alexandria, Egypt, the priest Arius said that the Son was subordinate to the Father and that they were not the same person, which meant to believers that Jesus was a lesser god.
“What does the Son of God mean? The Council of Nicaea answers that He is of the same essence as the Father, begotten and not created. That the Son is God from God, Light from Light,” says Ilaria Vigorelli, professor of dogmatic theology at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome. “The most important thing is to emphasize, from a theological point of view, the Church’s Trinitarian faith and the fact that she celebrates baptism in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
From the council emerged the Nicene Creed—later refined at the meeting in Constantinople in 381—that is one of its major legacies to this day. The prayer is typically recited at formal Masses of the Catholic Church, while the shorter Apostolic Creed is used in everyday life. The Nicene Creed is a code shared by Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, Anglicans, and others. “It is a sign of appreciation among Christians,” the teacher says.
“The Council of Nicaea is present because of its extremely high ecumenical value,” Pope Leo 14 wrote in the apostolic letter “On the Unity of Faith” (On the Unity of Faith), published on Sunday (23), in which he commented on the importance of the event. “What unites us is much more than what divides us. (…) The Nicene Creed offers us a model of true unity in legitimate diversity.”
Leo 14’s schedule in Turkey foresees an ecumenical prayer service in Iznik, near the archaeological remains of a cathedral built in the fourth century, after the First Council, and at least two meetings with Patriarch Bartholomew, a representative of the Orthodox Church.
If going to Türkiye was a legacy from his predecessor, then choosing Lebanon was understood as part of American Robert Prevost’s efforts for peace in the Middle East. References to conflicts in the region are frequent, and at the beginning of his first address as pope, he called for “unarmed peace and disarmament.”
In addition to the authorities, there is an ecumenical and religious meeting on the agenda in Martyrs’ Square in Beirut. There are 18 active religious sects in the country, and they are a reference for pluralistic coexistence in the region. The visit comes after the Israeli attacks on a Palestinian refugee camp in the south of the country.
Since Paul VI (1897-1978) and especially with John Paul II (1920-2005), international travel has played an important role for popes, both in pastoral terms, with the aim of getting closer to the faithful, and in symbolic and diplomatic terms. The choice of destinations is usually linked to the Pope’s priority topics.
With 47 trips in 12 years, to nearly 70 countries, Francisco made his first international trip to Rio de Janeiro, where he participated in World Youth Day, four months after his election in 2013. Days earlier, he went to Lampedusa, an Italian island considered a symbol of the migration crisis in the Mediterranean, one of the topics to which Francisco has devoted himself.
A week before the first departure outside the Vatican and the Italian borders, Leo 14 was in Assisi, in central Italy, marking the first time he had left the Rome-Lazio area. No new trips have been announced yet, but the American said in recent days that he intends to go, in 2026, to Portugal and Latin America, citing Mexico, Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, where he lived for more than 20 years. There is no mention of Brazil at the moment.
Pope Leo XIV’s trip to Türkiye and Lebanon
Thursday (11/27)
Departure from Rome to Ankara, scheduled arrival at 12:30 PM local time (6:30 AM Brasilia time)
Visit the mausoleum of Ataturk, founder of the Turkish Republic
Visit of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Meeting with the authorities and the diplomatic corps
Friday (11/28)
In Istanbul, a prayer with Catholic monks in the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit
In Iznik, ancient Nicaea, an ecumenical prayer near the ruins of the ancient Cathedral of Saint Neophytos
Saturday (11/29)
In Istanbul, visit the Sultan Ahmed Mosque
Meeting with Christian leaders at Saint Ephrem Syriac Orthodox Church
Prayer in St. George Patriarchal Church
Meeting with Patriarch Bartholomew
Mass at Volkswagen Arena
Sunday (11/30)
In Istanbul, visit the Armenian Apostolic Cathedral
A speech at St. George Patriarchal Church
Lunch with Patriarch Bartholomew
In Beirut, a visit by President Joseph Aoun
Meeting with other Lebanese authorities
Monday (1/12)
In Annaya, visit the Monastery of Saint Maron
In Harissa, a meeting with Catholic monks
In Beirut, an ecumenical interfaith meeting
In Bkerke, a meeting with young people in front of the Maronite Patriarchate of Antioch
Tuesday (2/12)
In Jal El Dib, visit De Lacroix Hospital
In Beirut, a prayer was held at the site of the huge explosion that occurred in 2020 in the port area
Mass on the Beirut waterfront