Pope Leo used the opening day of his first journey outside Italy on Thursday to caution that the world is living through a rising wave of violent conflicts, saying a third world war is already being fought in fragments and placing the future of humanity at risk.
The visit to Turkey marked the first time the United States born leader of the Catholic Church delivered remarks on foreign soil since his election in May. His message set a serious tone as he appealed for restraint and urged political leaders to reject choices that undermine justice and peace.
In an address alongside Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, the pope said current conflicts were being driven by choices rooted in economic and military ambition. He added that this escalation was visible across several regions. He insisted that the world cannot surrender to such forces because, in his words, the fate of humanity is on the line.
Erdogan welcomed what he described as the pope’s thoughtful stance on the Palestinian situation and said he hoped the visit would offer a measure of calm during a moment of international strain. Only months earlier, Leo had raised the worsening conditions in Gaza during a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog at the Vatican.
Leo selected largely Muslim Turkey as the destination for his debut trip abroad to commemorate the seventeen hundred year anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea, the early Christian gathering that produced the Nicene Creed still used by most Christian communities worldwide.
He arrived in Ankara in the early afternoon and began a busy three day schedule across the country before continuing on to Lebanon at the end of the weekend. Observers expect this journey to offer the first extended look at the pope’s views on global affairs. Political analysts note that Leo had spent most of his life as a missionary in Peru and was largely unfamiliar to the global public before his elevation to the papacy.
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Speaking to reporters on the flight from Rome, Leo said he wanted to use his first international journey to encourage cooperation among people of different backgrounds and to stress the value of peace. He said the Church hoped to bring attention to the need for unity and harmony during a fragile moment for the world.
Foreign trips by popes often draw global interest, with past journeys drawing immense crowds and sometimes influencing diplomatic conversations. The previous pope, Francis, had also used the term fragmentary world war to describe ongoing conflicts, repeatedly appealing for an end to the fighting in Gaza, Ukraine, Syria and several African states.
Leo will travel to Istanbul later on Thursday evening to meet Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the senior figure among the world’s Orthodox Christians. The relationship between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches has improved in recent decades after their formal split nearly a thousand years ago.
On Friday the two men will go to Iznik, known in ancient times as Nicaea, where the Nicene Creed was drafted. The visit carries symbolic weight given the shared history between the two traditions.
Journalists travelling with the pope also presented him with pumpkin pie to recognise the United States Thanksgiving holiday, which coincided with the journey.
The pope’s visit to Lebanon begins on Sunday and is expected to highlight the worsening security situation there. Lebanon hosts the largest proportion of Christians in the Middle East and has been affected by the spillover from the Gaza conflict. Last weekend an Israeli strike killed a senior military figure in the Hezbollah movement despite a year long truce mediated by Washington.
The three day Vatican trip concludes in Beirut where the pope is expected to repeat his calls for calm and for renewed diplomatic efforts to prevent further escalation.
