Pope Leo XIV’s Historic First Papal Trip to Turkey and Lebanon

Watch Pope Leo XIV board the plane for Turkey. He is expected to land at 12:30 p.m. local time in Turkey's capital city, Ankara.

Pope Leo XIV departed from Rome's Fiumicino Airport on Thursday morning, bound for Turkey's capital, where the Holy Father is scheduled to receive an official welcome at Esenboğa International Airport after a nearly three-hour flight.

Upon arrival, the pope will visit the Atatürk Mausoleum, built in honor of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder and first president of the Turkish Republic. He will then travel to the Presidential Palace for a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and an address to authorities, civil society representatives, and the diplomatic corps. The pope will not remain overnight in Ankara but will continue by air to Istanbul the same day.

Read more from EWTN News' Elias Turk, traveling on the papal plane.

Pope Leo XIV’s journey to Turkey and Lebanon carries significant historical and diplomatic symbolism: His decision to make the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk his first stop immediately recalls the legacy of his predecessor, St. John XXIII, who became a cultural and spiritual bridge between East and West, writes Sohail Lawand,

As Pope Leo XIV begins his six-day trip to Turkey and Lebanon, a new report from the European Centre for Law and Justice warns of “legal, institutional, and social hostility” toward Christians in Turkey.

The study cites restrictive laws, property confiscations, expulsions of clergy, and rising violence, leaving Christian communities at less than 0.3% of the population.

Read the full report by Tyler Arnold here.

Follow every step of Pope Leo XIV’s journey through Turkey and Lebanon with our curated YouTube playlist, featuring reports, interviews, and on‑the‑ground coverage.

Despite a Christian legacy that goes back 1,000 years, Lebanon, awaiting Pope Leo XIV’s visit, is a country on edge. It is to be hoped that Pope Leo will encourage Christian political unity and a proactive policy of being “wise as serpents and innocent as doves,” writes Alberto Fernandez in the National Catholic Register.

EWTN News Nightly gives a preview of the situation on the ground in Istanbul as Turkey's Christians prepare to welcome Pope Leo XIV on Thursday.

Pope Leo XIV will depart from Rome on Thursday morning for his first international apostolic journey. The wide-ranging trip — spanning historic ecumenical encounters, deeply symbolic gestures of prayer, and pastoral visits to Christian communities under pressure — is expected to highlight the pope’s priorities of unity, peace, and encouragement across a region marked by both ancient faith and present suffering.

The papal plane will take off at 7:40 a.m. from Fiumicino Airport, bound for Turkey’s capital, Ankara, where the Holy Father is scheduled to receive an official welcome at Esenboğa International Airport.

Read more about what to expect during Pope Leo’s first international trip from EWTN News’ Elias Turk, traveling on the papal plane.

The upcoming visit of Pope Leo XIV to Lebanon comes as a new wave of Israeli bombings have shaken several towns near the southern border.

“We have been experiencing continuous attacks like this for almost two and a half years. But we have never evacuated, we have never left our village,” said Maronite parish priest Father Tony Elias from the border village of Rmeich, a Christian village located just a few meters from Israel.

Rmeich, he explained, is one of the largest Christian villages in southern Lebanon. “We cannot leave, because if we did, there would be no one to rebuild, no one to protect our village,” he said in an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

Read more of the interview here.

Anticipation is building across Lebanon as the country prepares to welcome Pope Leo XIV. The visit is not without precedent, however. Lebanon has received two other popes in recent history — John Paul II in 1997 and Benedict XVI in 2012. Both trips are remembered as milestones in a nation marked by conflict and resilience. 

As preparations intensify, many of those who witnessed previous papal visits are reflecting on their impact and the memories they carry — memories that shape expectations for what Pope Leo’s visit may bring.

ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, has the story here.

With the countdown underway for Pope Leo XIV’s first official journey outside Italy, excitement is building across Turkey’s Christian and wider faith communities. Ahead of the historic visit, EWTN News spoke with several individuals who shared their hopes, expectations, and reflections on what the pope’s presence could mean for the country.

Pope Leo XIV’s trip to Turkey and Lebanon holds both spiritual and historical significance for the Catholic Church and its relations with the Orthodox Church as well as with Islam.

Learn more about the historic sites he will visit on his first apostolic journey.