ISTANBUL – Pope Leo XIV opened his first full day in Turkey on Friday by meeting with its tiny Catholic community, greeted by cheers and applause as he embarked on a day meant to bolster Christians around the world and pursue their centuries-old quest for unity.

Shouts of “Papa Leo” and “Viva il Papa” (Long Live the pope) erupted along with cheering and clapping inside and outside Istanbul’s Cathedral of the Holy Spirit as Leo arrived to begin the first full day of his first trip as pope.

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Leo was meeting with Turkey’s Catholic clergy and nuns before taking part in the key reason for his visit. He will commemorate the 1,700th anniversary of one of the most important moments in Christianity: the 325 AD gathering of bishops that produced the Nicaean Creed, a stateme

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