Pope Leo will travel to Turkey and Lebanon in late November, the Vatican announced, in the first visit outside Italy by the new leader of the 1.4 billion-member global Catholic Church.

Leo, the first US pope, will visit Turkey on November 27-30 before heading to Lebanon from November 30 to December 2, where he is expected to speak about the plight of Christians in the Middle East and to make appeals for peace across the region.

Leo was elected by the world's Catholic cardinals on May 8 to replace the late Pope Francis, who had planned to visit both countries but was unable to go because of health issues.

The Pope is expected to meet in Turkey with Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual leader of the world's 260 million Orthodox Christians, for celebrations of the 1700th anniversary of a major

See Full Page