Vatican City, Oct 7, 2025 / 06:03 am

Pope Leo XIV will visit Turkey and Lebanon in the first apostolic journey of his pontificate, to take place from November 27 to December 2, the Vatican announced Tuesday.

During the six-day papal trip, The Holy Father will visit the Turkish city of Iznek to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, an ecumenical milestone in Church history which led to the formulation of the Nicene Creed.

Leo will be the fifth pope to visit Turkey. Early in his pontificate, Pope Francis visited the Middle Eastern nation in 2014 to strengthen the Church’s interreligious dialogue with Orthodox and Muslim leaders.

The last papal visit to Lebanon was made by Pope Benedict XVI from Sept. 14-16, 2012, more than one year after the outbreak of the Syrian civil

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