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 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.

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.

The debate surrounding the traditional Latin Mass within the Catholic Church has intensified significantly in the early days of Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate. It follows the alleged leak of Vatican documents that appear to contradict the rationale behind ...

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.