VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV will visit Turkey and Lebanon next month on the first foreign trip of his papacy, the Vatican announced on Tuesday.

The trip offers a symbolically important gesture to Christians and Muslims as a pilgrimage to two countries that the pope’s predecessor, Francis, had planned to visit.

The Vatican said Leo will visit Turkey from Nov. 27-30, and Lebanon from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2. The trip to Turkey will include a pilgrimage to Iznik to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicea, Christianity’s first ecumenical council.

The anniversary is an important moment in Catholic-Orthodox relations, since the 325 A.D. Nicea meeting predates the schisms that divided Christianity’s East from West and is accepted by Catholic and Orthodox churches alike.

Francis

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