Pope Leo XIV, the spiritual leader of the Catholic Church elected Supreme Pontiff on 8 May after the death of Francis, has expressed his desire to visit the Turkish city of Iznik, the ancient Nicaea – where the first ecumenical council of Christianity was held 1,700 years ago, presided over by the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great – later this year.
According to reports in Turkish media such as the daily Agos, Pope Robert Prevost is reported to have made clear his intention to travel to Turkey when he received a delegation from the United States at his residence in Castel Gandolfo in Rome: “I hope to be able to meet you again, in a few months, to take part in the ecumenical commemoration of the anniversary of the Council of Nicaea“, the Pontiff said on Thursday in a speech to American Catholic and Orthodox pilgrims on their way to Istanbul.
Several Turkish newspapers say the visit will take place in November to coincide with the Feast of St Andrew, which is an important date in the Orthodox religious calendar as it is considered the date of the founding of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (Istanbul). When Francis visited Turkey in 2014, he also chose the same dates, because of their importance for both Catholics and Orthodox and therefore for ecumenical dialogue between the two Christian faiths.
During a meeting on 2 July with the wife of Turkish President, Emine Erdoğan, the Pope reportedly reiterated his desire to visit Turkey this year; his predecessor, Francis I, had already planned to travel to Iznik in the company of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Istanbul Bartholomew I, before his death on 21 April. In fact, after being crowned the new Pontiff, Pope Leo XIV held a meeting with journalists in which he was asked if he was aware of Francis’ desire to travel to the ancient city of Nicaea in Turkey, to which the Pope replied “I know, we are preparing for it“.
The First Council of Nicaea, now the modern-day city of Iznik, was held in 325 AD organised by Emperor Constantine the Great, who gathered Christian bishops from all over the known world in this small walled city on the shores of the lake of the same name, in order to establish a ‘universal’ (in Greek katholou, from which the term ‘catholic’ comes) doctrine for the Christian faith. It was at this council that the so-called Nicene Creed was established, which laid the basic foundations of the Christian creed, such as the concept of the Trinity and the very nature of Jesus.
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Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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