Pope Leo XIV and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I are convening in Nicaea, Turkey for a joint celebration for the unity of Christianity.

The American pope emphasized a message of peace as he arrived in Ankara, welcomed on the tarmac by a military guard of honor and at the presidential palace by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

On Sunday, just ahead of his trip to Türkiye and Lebanon, Pope Leo XIV wrote about the 1700th Anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, which is the reason for his journey.

On the second day of his inaugural overseas trip, Pope Leo XIV visited the ancient site of the First Council of Nicaea, in Turkey, urging Christians — and all faiths — to reject the use of religion to justify violence.

Pope Leo XIV showed a bit of dexterity outside the Vatican this week when he caught a Tyrone GAA jersey in mid air. The 'Leo 14' top was lobbed to the pontiff by Tyrone producer Aidan Gallagher who said it was a "great catch".

Speaking to Turkey’s small Catholic minority during mass Saturday afternoon, Pope Leo stressed the need to work for peace and unity in such an ethnically and culturally diverse region.

BEIRUT — Pope Leo XIV challenged Lebanon’s political leaders on Sunday to be true peacemakers and put their differences aside, as he sought to give Lebanon’s long-suffering people a message of hope and bolster a crucial Christian community in the Middle East.

Pope Leo XIV plans to pray at an Armenian Apostolic cathedral in Istanbul in a gesture supporting Christian unity and Christian minorities in Turkey