San Francisco Frontiers - Pope heads to Turkey, Lebanon in first overseas trip

The six-day trip is the first major international test for the US pope, who was elected head of the Catholic Church in May and whose understated style contrasts with that of his charismatic and impulsive predecessor, Francis.

In Turkey, Leo will celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, where the Creed -- a foundational declaration of the Christian faith -- was written.

While the Chicago-born pontiff's upcoming visit has so far garnered little attention in the predominantly Muslim country, where Christians represent only 0.2 percent of the 86 million inhabitants, it is eagerly awaited in Lebanon.

Lebanon has long been held up as a model of religious coexistence.

But since 2019, it has been ravaged by crises, including economic collapse which has caused widespread poverty, a devastating blast at Beirut port in 2020, and the recent war with Israel.

"The Lebanese are tired," said Vincent Gelot, director of the Lebanon and Syria office for l'Oeuvre d'Orient, a Catholic organisation that supports Christians in the Middle East.

"They expect a frank word to the Lebanese elite, as well as strong and concrete actions," he told AFP.

- 'A vicious cycle' -

Preparations are in full swing at the sites the pope will visit, with signs bearing his image and reading "Lebanon wants peace" hung along newly-restored roads.

Lebanon's ambassador to the Holy See, Fadi Assaf, said it was an "exceptional" visit which would "highlight the difficulties facing Lebanon", which is hoping for a "political and economic breakthrough".

Gelot said the Lebanese are caught in "a vicious cycle of wars and suffering", "dashed hopes" and "uncertainty about the future", and they "know full well that (this visit) will not solve all their problems".

It is an opportunity however to highlight the role of private, often religious, organisations in ensuring access to healthcare and education -- like the psychiatric hospital run by Franciscan nuns that Leo is set to visit, he said.

Trip highlights include a meeting with the country's youth, an open-air mass expected to draw 100,000 people, and a prayer at the site of the port explosion that killed over 220 people and caused vast damage to the Lebanese capital.

Abdo Abou Kassem, the church's media coordinator for the visit, said the pope also wishes to "reaffirm Lebanon's role as... a model for both East and West" through an interreligious meeting in downtown Beirut.

- Schisms -

The visit to Turkey, a strategic crossroad between East and West, is also aimed at promoting the Church's dialogue with Islam.

Leo will meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Thursday and visit the Blue Mosque in Istanbul on Saturday.

But at the heart of the trip is the anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, which Leo was invited to attend by Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual head of Orthodox Christianity.

Catholics recognise the universal authority of the pope as head of the Church, while Orthodox Christians are organised into churches that appoint their own heads.

The 325 A.D. meeting in Nicaea predated the schisms that divided Christianity between East and West and the commemoration is an important moment to promote Christian unity.

On the shores of Lake Iznik, the current name for Nicaea, the 70-year-old will join dignitaries from various Orthodox churches on Friday for a prayer which his predecessor, who died in April, had originally been set to attend.

There will be one notable absence. With the war in Ukraine deepening a rift between the patriarchates of Moscow and Constantinople, Russian Patriarch Kirill -- a supporter of President Vladimir Putin -- was not invited.

The pope will be careful not to inflame tensions further by irritating Moscow, which fears the Vatican will strengthen Constantinople's role as a privileged interlocutor and weaken its influence.

G.Allen--SFF