ISTANBUL (RNS) — On his second day in Turkey, Pope Leo XIV encouraged the small Christian community in the country ahead of his symbolic prayer gathering at Nicaea, where bishops convened 1,700 years ago to lay down the foundations of their shared Christian faith.
Around 0.4% of the Turkish population identifies as Christian, including Armenian, Greek Orthodox, Syriac, Assyrian and Protestant, with the majority of the country adhering to Sunni Islam. Catholics lack full recognition by the Turkish government and face significant obstacles to owning property, running schools or opening seminaries.
At the Holy Spirit Cathedral in Istanbul on Friday (Nov. 28), Leo met with the clergy and pastoral workers of the local Catholic Church, offering his reflections on the ancient roots of the Christian faith in the country.
During his homily, the pope reminded his flock that the “littleness is the Church’s true strength,” which “does not lie in her resources or structures, nor do the fruits of her mission depend on numbers, economic power or social influence.”
Margaret Searson, mother superior of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Istanbul. RNS Photo by Claire Giangravè
He especially noted that many of the Christians and Catholics in Turkey are foreigners, reminding the church of “the challenge of welcoming and serving some of the most vulnerable.” Roughly 1.5 million foreigners reside in Turkey.
Later Friday, Leo was scheduled to visit the historic site of Nicaea, now Iznik, a few hours south of Istanbul to join the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, and to pray together and honor their shared Christian roots.
The historical gathering was the birthplace of the Nicene Creed, recited by almost all Christians, and the place where church fathers agreed on the divinity of Jesus. Leo said the Nicene Creed is “a compass” that is meant to guide Christian beliefs and actions. He also underlined that Nicaea is a reminder that “Jesus Christ is not a figure of the past,” but guiding the church forward, and that doctrine too develops in time, “gradually bringing to light and expressing more fully the essential …