Overview
- León XIV and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I signed a joint declaration in Istanbul urging that wars end and rejecting the use of religion to justify violence.
- During a visit to Istanbul’s Blue Mosque, the pope did not pause to pray despite an invitation, and the Vatican later corrected an erroneous press note that had said he did.
- The pope celebrated Mass for roughly 4,000 faithful at the Volkswagen Arena, addressing a small Catholic community in a predominantly Muslim country.
- In Iznik, the pope joined other Christian leaders over the site of an ancient basilica to recite the Nicene Creed, marking 1,700 years since the Council of Nicaea and calling for Christian unity.
- Local media reported that Mehmet Ali Ağca, the 1981 assailant of John Paul II, was asked to leave Iznik and escorted out before the pope’s arrival.