ISTANBUL – Pope Leo XIV visited Istanbul’s Blue Mosque on Saturday at the start of an intense day of meetings and liturgies with Turkey’s religious leaders and a Mass for the country's tiny Catholic community.

The head of Turkey’s Diyanet religious affairs directorate showed Leo the soaring tiled dome of the mosque and the Arabic inscriptions on its columns, as Leo nodded in understanding.

Recommended Videos

The Vatican had said Leo would observe a “brief minute of silent prayer” there, but it wasn't clear if he had. The imam of the mosque, Asgin Tunca, said he had invited Leo to pray but the pope declined.

Speaking to reporters after the visit, Tunca said he had told the pope that the mosque was “Allah's house.”

"It’s not my house, not your house, (it’s the) house of Allah,” he sa

See Full Page