Beirut – At 3:34 p.m. local time, the Ita Airways Airbus A320neo touched down on the runway of the Rafic Hariri International Airport. The arrival of the Pope in Lebanon was welcomed—before the aircraft engines had even powered down—by the long call of boat sirens echoing across the Port of Beirut, a civil tribute heavy with Mediterranean symbolism, marking the prelude to the official protocol ceremony set up on the tarmac.
The moment that shifted the rhythm of the day, however, unfolded mid-flight. Roughly half an hour after take-off from Istanbul, while the pontiff’s aircraft was en route to the Lebanese capital, the Pope stood up from his seat and walked toward the rear of the A320neo cabin, choosing to meet journalists onboard during the transfer. A decision that broke with the recent press briefing practice—introduced by Pope Francis, typically held at the end of apostolic journeys—returning instead to an in-journey dialogue with the press, while events and impressions were still fully unfolding.
Standing at the back of the Airbus A320neo, the Pope greeted reporters with a smile: “Good afternoon! Buon pomeriggio a tutti!” He spoke without notes, accepting spontaneous questions, not filtered through a prepared agenda. The exchange lasted around ten minutes, a short but symbolically dense span—enough to shape an initial narrative framework for the coverage of the first leg of his inaugural apostolic journey.
Asked about Turkey’s role in fostering regional and global peace, in a question raised via the Turkish national news agency Anadolu, the Pope responded from an exact vantage point: in this journey, and now in Lebanon, he intends to be first and foremost a messenger of peace. He pointed to the Republic of Turkey as a country that, within the current geopolitical context, has shown a form of coexistence between a Muslim-majority population and Christian minorities—not an idealized construct, the Pope made clear, but a concrete example shaped by history, including periods when such peace had not been guaranteed. Precisely for this reason, he added, the peace-focused bilateral conversation he had held days earlier with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan was “worthy of note.”
On the subjects of Gaza and the war in Ukraine, prompted by a reporter from the Turkish broadcaster NTV, the pontiff reiterated the Holy See’s diplomatic position: the two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not only consistently supported, but remains the only path considered legitimate and viable, while acknowledging a core political fact—Israel does not currently accept it. On the Turkish front, the Pope also highlighted that President Erdogan affirmed his agreement with the proposal, and that Ankara could serve as a relevant diplomatic actor to accelerate the peace process. Regarding Ukraine, the pontiff again used the language of dialogue and the necessity of an immediate ceasefire, adding a concrete acknowledgment: in recent months, Turkey has already facilitated diplomatic engagement between Moscow, Kyiv, and Washington, convening multilateral diplomatic tables, and—at the humanitarian level—had played a decisive early role in opening the grain corridor, enabling a vital humanitarian supply route. The hope for a truce, he said, remains tied to Turkey’s unique capacity to maintain dialogue with all involved actors.
A second and more explicitly ecumenical axis followed in the Pope’s remarks. The stop in Nicaea to mark the 1,700 years of the historic Council of Nicaea was, he said, the original reason for the Turkish leg of the visit. There, at the site of one of the ancient basilicas, he was able to commemorate the profession of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, the agreement forged by the entire Christian community, emphasizing the value of unity celebrated through real gestures, not abstract declarations. The morning’s Divine Liturgy at the Fanar, presided over by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, confirmed the same orientation: a shared, recognizable, and publicly consequential ecumenical experience, not an ecumenism of vague formulae. In this framework, the Pope also briefly mentioned a future horizon: celebrating in 2033 the 2,000 years of the Redemption and the Resurrection, potentially in Jerusalem, a proposal welcomed but still entirely to be prepared—not as a program, but as a seed of a long path requiring time, agreements, and labor.
Once in Beirut, the arrival ceremony took place under a large officially-prepared canopy. After the performance of the national anthems, the honors to the flags and the introduction of the official delegations followed. The pontiff was then escorted to the Presidential Lounge for a private meeting with Lebanon’s president, the parliament speaker, and the prime minister.
f.F.C.
from Beirut – Silere non possum
Pope Leo XIV: Good afternoon to you all. I’ll speak English to start; I think most of you understand. I’m happy to greet you. I hope you all had as good a time in Türkiye as I did. I think it was a wonderful experience. As you know, the primary reason for coming to Türkiye was the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. We had that magnificent celebration, very simple and yet very profound, on the site of one of the ancient basilicas of Nicaea to commemorate the great event of the agreement of the whole Christian community and the profession of faith, the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. Besides that, of course, there were many other events that we celebrated. I personally want to express to all of you my gratitude for all the work that went into planning the visit, beginning with the Nuncio, the staff, the whole team from Rome, of course, that did all the organization, but in a very special way the government of Türkiye, President Erdogan and so many people that he put at our disposition in order to make sure that the trip would be a total success, his personal helicopter, many means of transportation, organization, etc, the presence of the ministers in various moments along the visit, so it was, I think, a great success. I was very happy to have the different moments 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. So, it was a wonderful celebration, and I hope that all of you shared that same experience, so thank you. I don’t know if there are any questions or comments, just a couple because they are waiting for me for more photos.
Baris Seçkin (Anadolu Ajansi): Thank you very much. At the beginning of your papal trip you made reference 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 were your discussions with President Erdogan on this matter?
Pope Leo XIV: To have come to Türkiye, and of course now to Lebanon, on this trip there was of course a special theme of, if you will, being a messenger of peace, of wanting to promote peace throughout the region. Türkiye has a number of, if you will, qualities about it; it is a country with the vast majority being Muslims, and yet the presence of numerous Christian communities there, although a very small minority, and yet people of different religions are able to live in peace. And that is one example, I would say, of what I think we all would be looking for throughout the world. To say that in spite of religious differences, in spite of ethnic differences, in spite of many other differences, people can indeed live in peace. Türkiye itself has had, of course, in its history various moments when it was not always the case, and yet to have experienced that and to have been able to speak also with President Erdogan about peace, I think, was an important element, a worthwhile element of my visit.
Seyda Canepa (NTV): Your Holiness, with President Erdogan, other than the official declarations, did you speak about the situation in Gaza since the Vatican and Türkiye have the same point of view on the solution of two people, two states? On Ukraine, the Vatican has underlined more than once the role of Türkiye, starting from the opening of the grain corridor at the beginning of the conflict. So, do you see hope for a ceasefire in Ukraine and for a faster peace process in Gaza in this moment?
Pope Leo XIV: Certainly, we spoke about both situations. The Holy See for several years has publicly supported the proposal of a two-state solution. We all know that in this moment Israel still does not accept this solution, but we see it as the only solution that could offer- let us say - a solution to the conflict that they continuously live. We are also friends of Israel, and we try with the two sides to be a mediating voice that can help draw closer to a solution with justice for all. I spoke about this with President Erdogan; he is certainly in agreement with this proposal. Türkiye has an important role that it could play in all of this. The same with Ukraine. Already some months ago, with the possibility of dialogue between Ukraine and Russia, the President helped a lot in convoking the two sides. We still have, unfortunately, not seen a solution, but today again there are concrete proposals for peace. And let us hope that President Erdogan, with his relationship with the Presidents of Ukraine, Russia, and the United States, may help in this sense to promote dialogue, a ceasefire, and to see how to resolve this conflict, this war in Ukraine.
He suggests (HolySee Press Office Director) that I say a word after the important ecumenical meeting in Nicaea, and then, yesterday morning, we spoke about possible future meetings. One would be in 2033, 2,000 years since the Redemption, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ; that obviously is an event that all Christians want to celebrate. The idea was welcomed; we still haven’t sent the invitation, but the possibility exists to celebrate, perhaps in Jerusalem in 2033, this great event of the Resurrection. There are still years to prepare it. However, it was a very beautiful encounter, because Christians of different traditions were present and were able to participate in this time. Thank you all.