Voice Across
Pope Leo XIV’s four-day visit to Türkiye, his first foreign trip since ascending to the papacy, concluded with a ceremony in İznik that projected unity, reconciliation, and historical memory. But the visit also revealed tensions beneath Türkiye’s complex social fabric, with minority communities interpreting the moment as a sign of renewed confidence, while segments of the broader public reacted with skepticism rooted in history, identity and geopolitical anxieties.
If İznik symbolised the shared Christian past that once shaped this land, Istanbul showcased the fragile but growing space in which Türkiye’s ancient Christian communities now live, rebuild and cautiously hope.
A pilgrimage to the birthplace of Christian unity
The closing ceremony in İznik, ancient Nicaea, was the emotional and symbolic centrepiece of the trip. The Pope and Patriarch Bartholomew stood at the shoreline where the foundations of the submerged basilica lie, marking 1,700 years since the First Ecumenical Council, the gathering that produced the Nicene Creed, the bedrock of global Christianity.
The leaders framed the moment as a reaffirmation of three intertwined messages:
· Rejecting the use of religion for war, violence, nationalism or ideological extremism
· Calling for inter-Christian and interfaith dialogue, not confrontation
· Reclaiming the Nicene heritage as a source of spiritual, not geopolitical, unity
The symbolism was unmistakable: a return to the place where Christianity once found consensus, now used to urge dialogue in a fractured world.
From the lakeshore, Pope Leo said the basilica’s visible foundations beneath the water were “a reminder that ancient faith can still support contemporary witness,” linking Christian unity to a broader call for peace amid global conflict.
Patriarch Bartholomew described İznik as “the womb of Christian reconciliation,” declaring that the moment demanded courage, humility and an unambiguous rejection of fundamentalism.
“Dialogue of love” revived
The most consequential development came a day earlier in Istanbul, where Pope Leo made his first-ever visit to the Patriarchate, entering the Patriarchal Church of St George at the Phanar.
In a profoundly symbolic gesture, the two leaders:
· lit a candle together,
· venerated a holy icon,
· stood side by side during a doxology on the feast of St Andrew,
· and then signed a Joint Declaration in the Throne Hall.
The declaration pledged to strengthen unity between the “Sister Churches” of East and West, rekindling the post-1964 thaw that had faltered in recent years.
Patriarch Bartholomew praised the contributions of Popes Benedict XVI and Francis, recalling that Francis “died suddenly, the second day after Easter in Rome,” but that the promise of continued rapprochement “was fulfilled yesterday by the two of us.”
Pope Leo said he was “deeply moved to walk in the footsteps” of Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis, calling the Phanar “a beacon of steadfast faith.”
The evening Vespers service, filled with incense, chanting, and readings, was widely described by diplomats as the strongest manifestation in decades of the “dialogue of love”, a phrase evoking the earliest steps toward healing the millennium-old 1054 Great Schism.
Blue Mosque and an embrace of shared heritage
Earlier in the trip, Pope Leo visited the Blue Mosque, describing its sixth-century architectural lineage as “a testament to the intertwined histories of Christians and Muslims.”
His silent prayer inside the mosque, accompanied by religious officials, immediately recalled the gestures of Benedict XVI and Francis, reinforcing the Vatican’s message of interfaith respect rather than competition.
The visit also reflected Türkiye’s own narrative: that Istanbul’s identity as a crossroads of civilizations remains intact despite demographic shifts.
A new atmosphere for ancient minorities
For Türkiye’s small Christian communities -Greek, Armenian, Syriac, and Latin- the Pope’s arrival marked a rare moment of international visibility and internal reassurance.
“This is, first of all, a great honour for Türkiye,” said Manolis Kostidis of the Greek Foundations Association. “It shows the value of the Patriarchate and reflects the support the government has given in recent years.”
Representatives, interviewed by various news channels, emphasised that while their communities have shrunk dramatically since the mid-20th century, the past two decades brought a series of reforms that fundamentally changed daily life:
· EU harmonisation packages (2003–2008) enabled the registration and restitution of seized properties.
· The 2011 government decree instructed the return or compensation of assets taken under earlier restrictive laws.
· Roughly 1,250 properties were restored to minority foundations between 2003 and 2018.
· Bureaucratic barriers to repairs, restoration and community activities have eased.
“There was a time when painting a church required years of permissions,” said Can Ustabaşı, head of the Minority Foundations Representative Office. “Now, doors open easily.”
Syriac communities in Tur Abdin are even seeing modest return migration from Europe, a development linked to improved security in southeastern Türkiye.
“A Türkiye without terrorism opens many doors,” Ustabaşı noted. “People feel safe returning to their villages.”
Still, lawyers and community leaders underline ongoing issues: foundation board elections, autonomy questions, and long-running property cases.
Kezban Hatemi, a veteran minority-rights lawyer, said progress was “genuine but unfinished,” adding that “the mentality in some institutions still needs to change.”
Erdoğan factor and symbolism diplomacy
Pope Leo’s talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan were described as cordial and substantive. Analysts noted that firstly the Pope’s outspoken criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza but also Türkiye’s own diplomatic posture have created an unusual moment of moral convergence between Ankara and the Vatican.
“Considering Türkiye’s foreign policy ambitions, this visit offers positive contributions,” said journalist Etyen Mahçupyan. Talking to a news channel, he said, “It helps ensure minority communities are not forgotten and softens international attitudes towards Türkiye.”
The government framed the visit as evidence of Türkiye’s commitment to religious coexistence and cultural pluralism. Heavy security measures, especially on the European side of Istanbul, underscored the state’s desire to avoid incident or misinterpretation.
Despite the overwhelmingly positive international coverage, the visit was not free of controversy inside Türkiye. While the government extended full protocol and no major political actor opposed the trip publicly, resistance simmered among various social groups.
Historical trauma and identity anxiety
For some conservative and nationalist circles, a Pope on Turkish soil carried the emotional weight of:
· Crusader memory,
· missionary activity during the late Ottoman period,
· and European interference in minority affairs.
These groups interpret high-profile Christian ceremonies as soft-power messaging rather than spiritual acts.
The close presence of the Patriarch raised suspicions among ultranationalists who see any prominence given to Byzantine heritage or Greek ecclesiastical institutions as politically coded.
Segments of society, on the other hand, influenced by anti-Western discourse portrayed the visit as a pretext for foreign influence or an attempt to internationalise Türkiye’s religious heritage. Some saw a symbolic challenge to the country’s Islamic identity.
Diehard secularists also voiced discomfort, arguing that hosting the Pope might weaken strict secular norms or encourage greater religious symbolism in public life.
Online feed, including claims that the İznik basilica would be returned to active church use, or that the Vatican sought territorial privileges, circulated widely, reflecting how misinformation shapes public attitudes.
İznik as a mirror
Ultimately, the İznik ceremony became a mirror for Türkiye’s contrasting realities:
· For Christians worldwide: a beacon of unity at the birthplace of the Nicene Creed.
· For Türkiye’s minorities: a moment of visibility and cautious optimism.
· For Ankara: a diplomatic opportunity to project coexistence and responsibility.
· For some in society: a trigger for anxiety shaped by history, politics and identity.
The ceremony’s messages, rejecting violence in the name of religion, embracing dialogue, and fostering reconciliation, were aimed not only at the Christian world but at a region scarred by conflict.
A country, a church, a moment
Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Türkiye revealed a country balancing its Ottoman inheritance, Republican secularism, and European aspirations with a renewed insistence on religious pluralism. It showed that minority communities, once pushed to the margins, now feel a measure of restored dignity, even as the shadow of past traumas lingers.
And by returning to İznik, the place where unity was once defined, the Pope and the Patriarch sought to remind the world that reconciliation, between churches, cultures or nations, begins with shared memory, honest dialogue, and moral courage.
İznik was about ancient foundations and Istanbul about the fragile but real construction of a new coexistence. Together, they framed the most consequential papal visit to Türkiye in decades.