Leo paid tribute to the country's tiny Catholic community and also visited a group of nuns, the Little Sisters of the Poor, who run a nursing home in Istanbul.

Pope Paul VI was the first leader of the Church to leave Italy in 150 years. He made nine foreign visits, with the first a trip to Israel and Jordan in 1964. He travelled to the U.N. headquarters in New York in 1965, where he addressed the General Assembly in French, pleading: "No more war, never again war!"

Events that occurred this week in Christian history include the death of Saint Columbanus, the first ordination of a Luther pastor in America, and Anastasius becoming pope.

Pope Leo XIV traveled to join Orthodox patriarchs in commemorating an important moment in Christian history, gathering at the site in Turkey of an unprecedented A.D. 325 meeting of bishops to pray that Christians might once again be reunited.

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.

Pope Francis will be the fourth pontiff visit the United States. — -- Pope Francis arrives in America today, making him only the fourth pontiff to visit the United States. Pope Paul VI was the first acting pope to set foot on American soil in 1965.

Pope Leo XIV celebrated Lebanon's tradition of interfaith coexistence Monday as a beacon of hope for a conflict-torn region, as he asked for “the divine gift of peace” alongside the country’s Christian and Muslim religious leaders.

Five years after Beirut port tragedy, families look to Pope Leo to keep justice alive as the pontiff prepares to pray at the site of the Aug. 4, 2020, blast that killed 200 people.