Pope Leo marks Christian milestone at historic İznik prayer

Pope Leo XIV arrived in Türkiye’s İznik on Nov. 28, joining Orthodox patriarchs at the location of the 325 AD Council of Nicaea to mark the historic event and offer prayers for Christian reunification.

Leo, Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew and other Christian leaders were meeting on the shores of the northwestern province of Bursa’s İznik Lake, the site of the Council of Nicaea that produced a creed, or statement of faith, that is still recited by millions of Christians today.

Leo flew by helicopter to İznik from Istanbul to take part in a prayer to commemorate the 1,700th anniversary of the Nicaea meeting, the highlight of his visit to Türkiye.

The Christian leaders lit candles and prayed at the lakeside archaeological excavations of the ancient Basilica of Saint Neophytos in a service featuring alternating Catholic and Orthodox hymns.

The stone foundations of the basilica, which were recently uncovered by the receding waters of Lake İznik, are believed to be on the site of an earlier church that hosted the council 1,700 years ago.

Speaking on Nov. 28 before arriving, Leo said the creed wasn’t merely a doctrinal formula, but the “essential core of the Christian faith.”

“Therefore, its development is organic, akin to that of a living reality, gradually bringing to light and expressing more fully the essential heart of the faith,” he said.

Leo arrived in Türkiye on Nov. 27, emphasizing a message of peace as he met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. It’s a message he’ll bring to Lebanon on Nov. 30, the second and final leg of the trip for history’s first American pope.

On Nov. 28, Leo began his first full day in Istanbul by encouraging Türkiye’s tiny Catholic community to find strength in their small numbers. According to Vatican statistics, Catholics number around 33,000 in a nation of 85 million, most of whom are Sunni Muslims.

“The logic of littleness is the church’s true strength,” Leo told them in English. “The significant presence of migrants and refugees in this country presents the church with the challenge of welcoming and serving some of the most vulnerable.”

He received a raucous welcome at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, where he was greeted with shouts of “Papa Leo” and “Viva il Papa” (Long Live the Pope). 

Leo later visited with a group of nuns, the Little Sisters of the Poor, who run a nursing home in Istanbul.

“He was so simple. We just felt he was at home. He felt very much at ease. Everybody got what they expected: a blessing, a kind word. It’s just enormous,” said Sister Margret of the Little Sisters of the Poor Nursing Home.

On Nov. 29, Leo will meet with Bartholomew and other Christian leaders in Istanbul. But he’ll also visit the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, commonly known as the Blue Mosque, and will celebrate a late afternoon Mass in Istanbul’s Volkswagen Arena.