Leo's final event for the day was a Catholic Mass in Istanbul's Volkswagen Arena for the country's Catholic community, who make up 33,000 in a country of more than 85 million people, most of whom are Sunni Muslim.

The best way to describe him is as the anti-polarization pope. His biggest issues are peace and unity. He knows he’s operating in a context where very few world leaders are talking that way. It’s not a collaborative world. He’s looking at a polarized landscape and responding to it.

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) — Pope Leo XIV visited Istanbul’s Blue Mosque on Saturday but didn't stop to pray, as he opened an intense day of meetings and liturgies with Turkey’s religious leaders and a Mass for the country's tiny Catholic community.

Pope Leo XIV visited Istanbul's iconic Blue Mosque on Saturday but didn't stop to pray, as he opened an intense day of meetings and liturgies with Turkey's Christian leaders, where he again emphasized the need for Christians to be united.

The pope celebrated Mass with some 5,000 people, many foreign-born Catholics, in an intimate Istanbul arena on Nov. 29, his last full day in Turkey.

Celebrating the vigil Mass for the first Sunday of Advent, Pope Leo gave the Catholics what he described as “resolutions” to work on this Advent: building bridges with other Catholics, other Christians and other believers in God.

VATICAN CITY, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Pope Leo will embark on his first trip outside Italy as the leader of the Catholic Church on Thursday, travelling to Turkey and Lebanon, where he is expected to make appeals for peace in the region and urge unity among long-divided Christian churches.

Pope Leo XIV is on his first visit to Lebanon. He arrives at a pivotal time for the country, buffeted by conflict with Israel and a devastating economic crisis.