Pope arrives in Turkey and meets with Erdogan
On his first day of the visit to Turkey, Pope Leo had a private meeting with the country's president.
Pope Leo XIV arrived in Ankara on November 27, 2025, where his six-day official visit to Turkey and Lebanon began. On this day, the pontiff met with the President of Turkey, Recep Erdogan, and other representatives of the country's politica and civil authorities, reports the vaticannews website.
The visit started with ceremonies characteristic of state rather than church protocol.
The Pope was met at the airport by Turkey's Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy. After the official welcoming ceremony, the Holy Father visited the Mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, where he laid a wreath at the tomb of the founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey.
Following the visit to the Ataturk Memorial, Pope Leo was escorted by a contingent of horse guards to the Presidential Palace, where he was received by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, after which they addressed representatives of civil authorities and the diplomatic corps.
Pope Leo’s address highlighted Turkey’s role in as “bridge” uniting different communities, the importance of families in the modern world, and the necessity of rejecting the “globalization of indifference” in favour of a “culture of encounter.”
The Pope’s final official visit was to the Presidency of Religious Affairs, the Diyanet – the government institution that promotes the teaching and practice of Sunni Islam in Turkey – for a private meeting with the Diyanet’s President, Safi Arpaguş.
Concluding the day's program in Ankara, the Pope traveled to Istanbul, where he will continue his visit with a meeting with Catholic clergy and an ecumenical prayer service in Nicaea, to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council in the history of the Church.
As reported by the UOJ, protests erupted in Turkey over Pope’s visit to Nicaea.
