During the flight from Istanbul to Beirut, concluding his apostolic journey to Türkiye, Leo XIV spoke with journalists about his trip. The Pontiff highlighted the symbolic value of the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, directly thanked President Erdoğan for the collaboration offered during the trip, and reiterated Türkiye's role as a diplomatic actor in the Middle East and in the war in Ukraine. Additionally, he left open the possibility of an ecumenical celebration in Jerusalem in 2033, on the occasion of the two thousand years of the Redemption.
We leave below the transcript of Pope Leo XIV's intervention with journalists on board the papal plane:
Pope Leo XIV (in English): Good afternoon to everyone. I will start by speaking in English; I think most of you understand me. I'm glad to greet you. I hope you all had as good a time in Türkiye as I did. I think it has been a wonderful experience.
As you know, the main reason for coming to Türkiye has been the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. We had that magnificent celebration, very simple and at the same time very profound, in the place of one of the ancient basilicas of Nicaea, to commemorate the great event of the agreement of the entire Christian community and the profession of faith, the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed.
In addition to that, of course, there were many other events that we celebrated. I want to express personally to all of you my gratitude for all the work involved in preparing the visit, starting with the Nuncio, the staff, the entire team from Rome, of course, who took care of the organization, but in a very special way to the government of Türkiye, to President Erdoğan and to so many people he made available to us to ensure that the trip was a total success: his personal helicopter, many means of transportation, organization, etc., the presence of ministers at various moments of the visit… So it was, I believe, a great success.
I was very pleased to have the various meetings we had with the different Churches, with the different Christian communities, with the Orthodox Churches, culminating this morning with the Divine Liturgy with Patriarch Bartholomew. It was a wonderful celebration, and I hope you all shared that same experience, so thank you. I don't know if there are questions or comments, just a couple, because they are waiting for me for more photos.
Question – Barış Seçkin (Anadolu Ajansı): Thank you very much. At the beginning of your papal journey, you referred to world and regional peace. In this regard, what is your comment on Türkiye's role in achieving and maintaining world and regional peace, and what did you discuss with President Erdoğan on this issue?
Pope Leo XIV: Coming to Türkiye, and of course now to Lebanon, on this trip had, shall we say, a special theme: that of being, if you will, a messenger of peace, of wanting to promote peace throughout the region.
Türkiye has, so to speak, a series of qualities: it is a country where the vast majority is Muslim and, however, there are numerous Christian communities there, although they are a very small minority, and yet, people of different religions can live in peace. And that is an example, I would say, of what we all seek in the whole world.
It is about saying that, despite religious differences, despite ethnic differences, despite many other differences, people can really live in peace. Türkiye itself has had, of course, in its history various moments when it was not always so, and yet, having lived that experience and having been able to speak also with President Erdoğan about peace I think was an important element, a valuable element of my visit.
Question – Seyda Canepa (NTV, in Italian): Holiness, with President Erdoğan, beyond the official statements, did you talk about the situation in Gaza, given that the Holy See and Türkiye share the same point of view on the two peoples, two States solution? On Ukraine, the Holy See has emphasized on several occasions Türkiye's role, starting with the opening of the grain corridor at the beginning of the conflict. Do you see hope for a ceasefire in Ukraine and a faster peace process in Gaza at this moment?
Pope Leo XIV (in Italian): Certainly, we talked about both situations. The Holy See, for several years, has publicly supported the proposal for a two-State solution. We all know that, at this moment, Israel still does not accept this solution, but we see it as the only solution that could offer—shall we say—an exit to the continuous conflict that is being lived.
We are also friends of Israel, and we try, with both parties, to be a voice of mediation that can help to approach a solution with justice for all.
I spoke about this with President Erdoğan; he is certainly in agreement with this proposal. Türkiye has an important role that it can play in all this.
The same happens with Ukraine. A few months ago, before the possibility of a dialogue between Ukraine and Russia, the president helped a lot to convene the two parties. Unfortunately, we have not yet seen a solution, but today, again, there are concrete peace proposals. And we hope that President Erdoğan, with his relationship with the presidents of Ukraine, Russia, and the United States, can help in this sense to promote dialogue, a ceasefire, and to see how to resolve this conflict, this war in Ukraine.
He (Matteo Bruni, n. of the ed.) suggests that I say a word after the important ecumenical meeting in Nicaea, and then, yesterday morning, we talked about possible future meetings.
One would be in 2033, on the 2000th anniversary of the Redemption, of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ; evidently, that is an event that all Christians want to celebrate. The idea was well received; we have not yet sent the invitation, but there is the possibility of celebrating, perhaps in Jerusalem, in 2033, this great event of the Resurrection. There are still years to prepare it.
However, it was a very beautiful meeting, because Christians from different traditions were present and were able to participate in this moment.
Thank you all.