Pope Leo XIV started the second day of his trip to Turkey with a visit to Istanbul’s Blue Mosque on Saturday.
Leo was following in the footsteps of his recent predecessors, who all made high-profile visits to the mosque in a gesture of respect to Turkey’s Muslim majority.
This is the pope’s first foreign trip. He will also visit Lebanon.
Leo, history’s first American pope, is expected to speak in broader terms about peace in the Middle East
Spokesman Matteo Bruni issued a statement after questions arose about whether Leo prayed in the mosque or not, describing the mosque visit as a silent one to contemplate.
Bruni said: “The pope experienced his visit to the mosque in silence, in a spirit of contemplation and listening, with deep respect for the place and the faith of those who gather there in prayer.”
Past papal visits to the mosque have always raised questions about whether the popes would pray in the Muslim house of worship or merely visit as a sign of respect to Muslims.
Asgin Tunca said he had invited Leo to pray, but the pope declined.
Speaking to reporters after the visit, Tunca said he had told the pope that the mosque was “Allah’s house.”
“It’s not my house, not your house, (it’s the) house of Allah,” he said. He said he told Leo: “’If you want, you can worship here,’ I said. But he said, ‘That’s OK.’”
“He wanted to see the mosque, wanted to feel (the) atmosphere of the mosque, I think. And was very pleased,” he said.
Leo visited the iconic mosque in Istanbul, where the head of Turkey’s Diyanet religious affairs directorate showed him the structure’s soaring blue-tiled dome.
The Vatican said Leo would observe a “brief minute of silent prayer.”
Leo was following in the footsteps of his recent predecessors, who all made high-profile visits to the mosque in a gesture of respect to Turkey’s Muslim majority.