Pope Leo pays first visit to Muslim place of worship at Istanbul’s Blue Mosque

Pope Leo XIV was impressed by the world-famous Blue Mosque when he made his first visit as pontiff to a Muslim place of worship on Saturday, the site’s muezzin has told The National.

“I think he was impressed by the mosque, because I think he left with a sense of peace,” Asgin Musa Tunca said, after giving the leader of the world’s Catholics a tour of the Sultan Ahmed mosque, its official name, in Istanbul.

Mr Tunca, who makes the call to prayer from the 17th century Ottoman mosque, accompanied the Pope inside, alongside other dignitaries, including the Mufti of Istanbul, Emrullah Tuncel, and Turkey's Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy.

Asgin Musa Tunca guides Pope Leo XIV around the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, also known as The Blue Mosque, in Istanbul. Getty Images

The team showed the Pope around the mosque, including the pulpit and the mihrab, a prayer niche in the wall that indicates the direction to Makkah.

“We explained the mihrab. We explained what we do. Then he asked some questions,” Mr Tunca said in an interview from the mosque’s courtyard. “I think he was especially impressed when the mihrab was explained to him.”

“He's cheerful,” Mr Tunca added. “I think he's a good person.”

The visit was the American Pope’s first to a Muslim place of worship since his election as Catholic leader in May, and is widely seen as a gesture of unity between Christianity and Islam. He spent about 25 minutes at the site before travelling to a meeting with Christian leaders at a new church opened in Istanbul in 2023.

Pope Leo XIV visits the Ottoman-era Sultan Ahmed Mosque on Saturday. AP

Pope Leo, 70, visited the mosque, “in a spirit of recollection and attentive listening, with deep respect for the place and for the faith of those who gather there in prayer”, the Holy See Press Office said.

Commissioned by Ottoman Sultan Ahmed I, the mosque gained its nickname as the Blue Mosque from the thousands of ceramic tiles that shimmer on its walls. It is the only Muslim place of worship in Istanbul to have six minarets.

Pope Leo is on his third day of a four-day tour of Turkey, after which he will travel to Lebanon.

In speeches since arriving in the Muslim-majority nation of 86 million people, he has called for diversity to be embraced and condemned the use of religion to justify conflict, without naming specific wars.

There was a heavy security presence around the mosque for his visit. Neighbouring Sultan Ahmed Square, normally bustling with tourists, was shut off with barricades and surrounded by police.

There were no huge crowds waiting to see the Pope early on Saturday morning, but some tourists came out in the hope of glimpsing him.

Why Pope Leo XIV’