Pope Leo on Friday condemned the use of religion to justify violence as he joined Christian leaders from across the Middle East for a landmark ceremony marking the 1,700th anniversary of a major Church council. The event, held in the Turkish town of Iznik, the ancient city of Nicaea, is the centrepiece of his first overseas trip as head of the Catholic Church.
Addressing clerics from Turkey, Egypt, Syria, Israel and other countries, Leo said it was a “scandal” that the world’s 2.6 billion Christians were not more united, despite centuries of shared history.
“Today, the whole of humanity, afflicted by violence and conflict, is crying out for reconciliation,” Leo said at the lakeside ceremony, held near the underwater ruins of a fourth-century basilica where early churchmen formulated the Nicene Creed.
“We must strongly reject the use of religion for justifying war, violence, or any form of fundamentalism or fanaticism,” said Leo, the first U.S. pope. “The paths to follow are those of fraternal encounter, dialogue and cooperation.”
The gathering, which included prayers in English, Greek and Arabic, drew hundreds of onlookers to the historic site 140 km (90 miles) southeast of Istanbul. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual leader of the world’s 260 million Orthodox Christians, attended and urged leaders to “move forward” together.
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In a sign of enduring divisions, the Russian Orthodox Church closely aligned with President Vladimir Putin boycotted the ceremony. Moscow broke ties with Bartholomew in 2018 over his recognition of an independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Leo, who was little known globally before his election in May, is being closely watched as he delivers his first major speeches abroad and meets communities outside predominantly Catholic Italy.
Beatrix Cervantes, a 75-year-old French resident of Turkey, said the pope’s visit carried symbolic weight. “Whether we are Muslim, Catholic, Orthodox, or any other religion, the essential thing is that we live together peacefully,” she told Reuters.
Earlier on Friday, Leo met members of Turkey’s small Catholic community at Istanbul’s Holy Spirit Cathedral. Amid chants of “Viva il papa”, he urged them to avoid political entanglements and instead prioritise support for migrants in Turkey, which hosts nearly 4 million foreigners, including 2.4 million Syrians.
Care for migrants has been a defining theme of Leo’s six-month papacy, during which he has frequently criticised U.S. President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration policies.
Leo arrived in Turkey on Thursday and met President Tayyip Erdogan, telling him the world was experiencing an “unusual number of bloody conflicts”.
The 70-year-old pontiff has a tightly packed six-day itinerary that includes visits to Turkey and Lebanon. On Saturday he will make his first visit as pope to a Muslim place of worship when he tours Istanbul’s Blue Mosque, followed by a Catholic Mass at the Volkswagen Arena.
Peace is expected to dominate his visit to Lebanon, which begins on Sunday. Lebanon home to the largest Christian population in the Middle East has been severely affected by the fallout from the Gaza conflict, including months of clashes between Israel and Hezbollah.
Lebanese leaders hope the papal visit will attract global attention as the country struggles with a prolonged economic crisis and hosts around 1 million Syrian and Palestinian refugees.
