This is what the Pope’s trip to Turkey, Lebanon, and Latin America would look like: more details and even dates are emerging
By Valentina Di Giorgio
Copyright zenit
(ZENIT News / Rome, 09.19.2025).- The first papal journey of Leo XIV is beginning to take shape, and its destination carries both historic weight and contemporary urgency: the city of Nicaea, today Iznik in Turkey, where Christianity first gathered to profess a common creed 1,700 years ago.
In an interview published in the newly released biography «Leo XIV: Citizen of the World, Missionary of the 21st Century», the pontiff expressed his personal desire to be present in Nicaea at the end of November, marking the anniversary of the council that produced the Nicene Creed. “Nicaea is more than a place—it is a profession of faith,” he reflected. “It represents a moment when, despite later divisions, Christians could still speak together with one voice.”
The trip will also mark Leo XIV’s debut on the global stage as pope. Vatican sources confirm that plans are underway for a two-day visit to Turkey on November 29 and 30, with the possibility of an additional stop in Lebanon if the region’s volatile situation allows. The timing aligns with the Orthodox calendar: Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople has already proposed November 29 for a meeting in Istanbul, followed by a joint commemoration in Iznik the next day.
Though initially imagined as a bilateral encounter between pope and patriarch, Leo XIV has insisted on widening the circle. He has invited leaders of various Christian traditions—and potentially representatives of other religions—to join what he envisions as a moment of shared witness rather than a closed-door summit. “The search for Christian unity must be one of the central tasks of the Church today,” he emphasized.
That pursuit of unity is no small challenge. Relations with the Russian Orthodox Church remain strained, especially since the war in Ukraine deepened the gulf between Moscow and Rome. Yet Leo XIV has not abandoned the effort: “I have already met with several patriarchs, including representatives of Patriarch Kirill. Building bridges in this context is also part of my service.”
The Nicaea pilgrimage, however, is not the only journey on the horizon. Looking further ahead, the pope is preparing his first voyage to Latin America for early 2026. That tour is expected to include Peru, Argentina, and Uruguay—fulfilling the long-held wish of his predecessor, Pope Francis, to return to his homeland, and honoring the missionary roots of Cardinal Robert Prevost, now a key figure in Leo XIV’s papacy.
If the Middle East and Latin American trips materialize as envisioned, Leo XIV will set a pattern that is both faithful to Francis’ unfinished itinerary and distinctly his own: a papacy defined by dialogue, remembrance, and the pursuit of reconciliation.
The road to Nicaea, once the stage of the Church’s first great council, is thus becoming a road into the future—an emblem of what Leo XIV hopes his ministry will be: a gathering, a bridge, and a renewed profession of faith across a divided Christian world.
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