Pope Leo XIV Visits Turkiye's Blue Mosque but Declines to Worship - VIDEO

Apostolic Journey of His Holiness Leo XIV to Turkey and Lebanon (27 November - 2 December 2025)
Visit to the Sultan Ahmet Mosque and Private Meeting with the Heads of Churches and Christian Communities at the Syriac Orthodox Church of Mor Ephrem, 29.11.2025
At 8:45 a.m. (local time), the Holy Father Leo XIV moved by car to the Sultan Ahmed Mosque.

"The Pope experienced the visit to the Mosque in silence, in a spirit of recollection and attentive listening, with deep respect for the place and for the faith of those who gather there in prayer," according to the Holy See Press Office.
A host of Pope Leo's visit, muezzin Aşgın Musa Tunca, told reporters afterwards that he had told the pope he was welcome “to worship here,” but that the pope had replied: “No, I am just going to look around.”
The more than 21,000 ceramic tiles from Iznik that line the walls of the building, predominantly blue and turquoise, gave rise to mosque's nickname.

One of the most important in Istanbul, this mosque was completed in 1617 by Sultan Ahmed I on part of the site of the Great Palace of Constantinople.Arriving at the mosque on Saturday morning, Pope Leo was accompanied by the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy; the provincial mufti of Istanbul, Emrullah Tuncel; and the imam of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, Kurra Hafiz Fatih Kaya. Inside, muezzin Musa Aşgın Tunca led the Pope on a brief tour of the mosque.

Pope Leo becomes the third pope to visit the Blue Mosque, following in the footsteps of his immediate predecessors Francis (in 2014) and Benedict XVI (in 2006). Benedict's visit was only the second time in history that a Pope had visited a mosque, after John Paul II's historic visit to the Umayyad Mosque in Damasus during his Apostolic Journey to Syria in 2001.

At the end of his visit to the mosque, at 9:30 a.m., the Holy Father traveled by car to the Syriac Orthodox Church of Mor Ephrem for a private meeting with the Heads of the Churches and Christian Communities.

Upon his arrival, the Pope was welcomed by the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch and the Metropolitan of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch for the dioceses of Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir. The Patriarch and the Holy Father entered the church and joined the Christian leaders for a group photo. The choir then sang a hymn of invocation to the Holy Spirit, and the leaders took their seats at the round table. The meeting continued behind closed doors, with brief remarks from each leader, followed by an address from the Pontiff. Before leaving the church, the Patriarchal Vicar of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch led the recitation of the Lord's Prayer.

At the end of the private meeting, at 11:45 am, the Pope transferred by car to the Apostolic Delegation.

About: The Blue Mosque, officially the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Turkish: Sultanahmet Camii), is an Ottoman-era historical imperial mosque located in Istanbul, Turkey. It was constructed between 1609 and 1617 during the rule of Ahmed I. It attracts a large number of tourists and is one of the most iconic and popular monuments of Ottoman architecture.

The Blue Mosque was included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1985 under the name of "Historic Areas of Istanbul".

The mosque was completed in 1616, during the reign of Sultan Ahmed I. It has stood for over 400 years as a timeless symbol of Istanbul’s imperial past and enduring faith.