The Chicago-born Holy Father broke with his two predecessors by rejecting the invitation to pray at the Blue Mosque in Istanbul during his first foreign trip.

Pope Leo XIV marked the start of Advent on Saturday with an appeal for unity and peace, telling thousands gathered for Mass in Istanbul that Christians “journey as if on a bridge that connects earth to Heaven,

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.

Pope Leo XIV prayed with the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, Patriarch Bartholomew, at the patriarchal church of Saint George in Istanbul Saturday, as part of his first trip abroad to Turkey.

Ahead of his visit, Leo shared a Thanksgiving message with NBC News encouraging all people "to recognize that we have all received so many gifts."

One journalist gifted Pope Leo XIV a Thanksgiving pumpkin pie as he began his first foreign tour to Turkey and Lebanon, accompanied by the world's press.

Pope Leo XIV encouraged Turkey's tiny Catholic community to find strength in its small size as he embarked on the key day of his first trip that is meant to bolster Christians and pursue their centuries-old quest for unity.

Pope Leo XIV has started the second day of his trip to Turkey with a visit to Istanbul’s Blue Mosque. On Saturday, the pope followed in the footsteps of his recent predecessors, who all

Pope Leo XIV condemned the use of religion for justifying “war,” “violence” or “fanaticism” on Friday – instead urging Catholics to mobilize their faith and unify others “regardless of ethnicity, nationality,