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Pope Leo XIV visited Istanbul’s Sultan Ahmed Mosque, commonly known as the Blue Mosque, his first visit to a Muslim place of worship since becoming pope in May.
The pope was seen bowing as he entered the building, but he reportedly did not pray in mosques like his two predecessors.
The Vatican said in a statement that Leo made the trip “in a spirit of reflection and listening, with deep respect for this place and the faith of those who gathered there to pray.”
The pope is on a four-day visit to Türkiye, followed by a visit to Lebanon.
He was then welcomed by Patriarch Bartholomew, head of the Orthodox Church, at St. George’s Cathedral in Istanbul.
The official name of the Blue Mosque was Sultan Ahmed I, the leader of the Ottoman Empire from 1603 to 1617 who oversaw the construction of the mosque.
It is decorated with thousands of blue and turquoise tiles and receives millions of visitors every year.
Pope Francis prayed there in 2014 and Pope Benedict XVI prayed there in 2006.
The first pope to formally enter a mosque was John Paul II, who made history in 2001 when he visited the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus.
The papal visit to Turkey and Lebanon was planned by the late Pope Francis, but its bridge-building theme was embraced by Pope Leo from the moment he stepped onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica after his election in May.
At the start of his trip, he warned that the world should not succumb to “increased conflict at the global level”, adding that “the future of humanity is at stake”.
In Lebanon – where an estimated one-third of the population is Christian – he is expected to meet more faith leaders and hear from young people.
On the last day of the trip, he will celebrate Mass on the Beirut waterfront, the site of the 2020 port explosion, and pray for more than 200 people killed and 7,000 injured.
