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First American pope will arrive in the Turkish capital Ankara, where he will meet President Erdogan.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Pope Leo has embarked on his first foreign trip as Catholic leader with a visit to two Muslim-majority countries of Turkiye and Lebanon, where he is expected to make appeals for peace in the Middle East, ravaged by conflicts, and urge unity among long-divided Christian churches.<\/p>\n The pontiff, who has a crowded three-day itinerary in Turkiye starting on Thursday, before heading on to Lebanon, will be closely watched as he makes his first speeches overseas and visits sensitive cultural sites.<\/p>\n list of 4 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n Foreign travel has become\u00a0a major part of the modern papacy, with\u00a0popes attracting international attention as they lead events with crowds sometimes in the millions, give foreign policy speeches and conduct international diplomacy.<\/p>\n Leo, 70, was scheduled to depart with his entourage from Rome\u2019s Fiumicino airport at about 06:40 GMT on Thursday, and will first visit the Turkish capital, Ankara, where he will meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and address political leaders.<\/p>\n The first pontiff from the United States has chosen Turkiye as his first overseas destination to mark the 1,700th anniversary of a landmark early church council there that produced the Nicene Creed, still used by most of the world\u2019s Christians today.<\/p>\n Leo was elected in May by the world\u2019s cardinals in a conclave to succeed the late Pope Francis. A relative unknown on the world stage before his election, Leo spent decades as a missionary in Peru and only became a Vatican official in 2023.<\/p>\n Francis had been planning to visit Turkiye and Lebanon, but was unable to go because of his worsening health.<\/p>\n After a brief visit in Ankara, Leo is also scheduled to fly on Thursday evening to Istanbul, which was also previously known as Constantinople, the capital of the Roman Empire.<\/p>\n #PapaLeoneXIV<\/a> \u00e8 in partenza per la #Turchia<\/a> #T\u00fcrkiye<\/a>, tappa del suo primo viaggio apostolico. Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
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L’arrivo allo scalo romano di Fiumicino dove con un volo Ita Airways giunger\u00e0 ad Ankara pic.twitter.com\/yHd6oMWLkx<\/a><\/p>\n