Photos highlight Pope Leo XIV’s first overseas pilgrimage
Pope Leo XIV, left, and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world's Eastern Orthodox Christians, second left, leave after an Ecumenical prayer service at archaeological excavations of the ancient Byzantine-era Christian Saint Neophytos Basilica, in Iznik, Turkey, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, marking the 1,700 years anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
With his foreign trip to Turkey and Lebanon, Pope Leo XIV will become the first American pope on the road.
The journey fulfills a visit Pope Francis had hoped to make before his health declined, and it gives Leo a prominent platform to speak about peace in the Middle East.
In a notable shift from the Vatican’s traditional use of Italian, he will address audiences exclusively in English while in Turkey and in both English and French during his time in Lebanon.
Pope Leo XIV and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I lead an Ecumenical prayer service near the archaeological excavations of the ancient Basilica of Saint Neophytos, in Iznik, Turkey, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)
People gather before the arrival of Pope Leo XIV to the archaeological excavations of the ancient Byzantine-era Christian Saint Neophytos Basilica, in Iznik, Turkey, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Pope Leo XIV and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, right, lead an Ecumenical prayer service near the archaeological excavations of the ancient Basilica of Saint Neophytos, in Iznik, Turkey, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)
People shout slogans during a small protest by Islamic New Welfare Party against a prayer ceremony led by Pope Leo XIV at the archaeological excavations of the ancient Byzantine-era Christian Saint Neophytos Basilica, in Iznik, Turkey, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Pope Leo XIV visits the nursing home of the Little Sisters of the Poor, in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)
Pope Leo XIV visits the nursing home of the Little Sisters of the Poor, in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)
Pope Leo XIV meets the clergy at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)
Pope Leo XIV delivers his speech as he meets the clergy at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)
Pope Leo XIV greets a child as he meets the clergy at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)
Pope Leo XIV waves to the people as he leaves the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, during his first foreign trip. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
Spanish Irati Aguirre, 26, makes a cross with stones as she waits for the arrival of Pope Leo XIV next to archaeological excavations of the ancient Byzantine-era Christian Saint Neophytos Basilica, in Iznik, Turkey, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
A Turkish honor guard prepares ahead of the arrival of the papal plane carrying Pope Leo XIV at Esenboga International Airport in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025, marking the start of his first foreign trip. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Pope Leo XIV is escorted by security members upon his arrival at Esenboga International Airport in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025, marking the beginning of his first foreign trip. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Pope Leo XIV is flanked by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he arrives at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)
Pope Leo XIV delivers his speech as he meets with authorities, members of the civil society and diplomats in the Presidential Palace's national library, in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)
Pope Leo XIV poses a wreath at the Ataturk Mausoleum in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)
An aerial view shows the area where Pope Leo XIV will hold a Holy mass during his visit to Lebanon, at the waterfront of downtown Beirut, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Pope Leo XIV peers from a window on board his papal plane bound to Istanbul, at Esenboga International Airport in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025, during the first of his six-day trip to Turkey and Lebanon. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Reporters' shadows are cast on the tarmac as they wait for the plane to depart that is transporting Pope Leo XIV to a six-day trip to Turkey and Lebanon, at the Fiumicino airport in Rome, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
