Pope Leo XIV's first trip to Türkiye ended on Sunday after four days. The pontiff, who received warm welcome by Türkiye's Christian community, was set to depart for Lebanon with a message of peace for the crisis-mired nation.
On the last day of his visit, his first trip overseas since being elected leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, Leo participated in several Sunday services in another demonstration of his desire for greater unity among different branches of the Church.
At the Armenian Cathedral, Leo said had words of encouragement for the largest of Türkiye's Christian communities that counts some 50,000 members, thanking God "for the courageous Christian witness of the Armenian people throughout history, often amid tragic circumstances."
It was an apparent nod to mass deaths of Armenians during the Ottoman rule between 1915 and 1916. Türkiye rejects the term of genocide for mass deaths, something that soured the relations with Armenia.
"The Armenian people do not forget the popes who raised their voice in our times of suffering, who stood with Christian communities in danger and who upheld truth when the world hesitated," Armenian Patriarch Sahak Mashalian said. And he prayed Leo's influence would help ensure the safety of "vulnerable Christian communities" in the Middle East, saying: "May the good Lord make you an angel of peace in those bleeding lands to herald glad tidings of enduring peace among war-worn peoples."
Pope Francis did not visit any Armenian sites during his visit to Türkiye in 2014, but on his way to the airport before departing, he made an unscripted stop at a hospital where the ailing Armenian Patriarch Mesrob II was being treated.
Continue Reading on Daily Sabah
This preview shows approximately 15% of the article. Read the full story on the publisher's website to support quality journalism.