Pope Leo plans to visit Turkey for Nicaea anniversary

Patriarch Bartholomew was among the Orthodox leaders to welcome Pope Leo’s election, voicing hope that he would continue his predecessor’s efforts to promote Christian unity.

The Pope said he is “preparing” to visit Turkey to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea.

Reminded during his audience with reporters on Monday of Pope Francis’ plans to visit Iznik, the modern day site of the council, Pope Leo XIV replied: “I know, we are preparing for it.” It was understood that Francis had hoped to make the visit at some point in May.

Speaking ahead of the conclave, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I had said he hoped Francis’ successor would join him on the “pilgrimage” to the site of the first Ecumenical Council, but suggested it might take place in November instead.

Bartholomew was among the Orthodox leaders to welcome Pope Leo’s election last week, voicing hope that he would continue his predecessor’s efforts to promote Christian unity.

Marking the election as a new chapter in relations between Rome and Constantinople, which began with nullifying the 1054 anathemas in 1965, Bartholomew – the “first among equals” of global Orthodoxy – said he looked forward to further dialogue and improving relations between the East and the West.

Speaking during a visit to Athens which coincided with the conclave, Bartholomew also confirmed he would participate in Pope Leo’s enthronement later this week. He was afforded a prominent position at Pope Francis’ funeral last month.

During one of his appearances in Athens, Bartholomew said that “we are not moved, nor do we envy or covet the grandeur of the Vatican, the Orthodox Times reported. He added that even as a student in Rome, he didn’t feel an “inferiority complex”.

In Russia, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow sent a message to mark Leo’s election, saying he hoped their Churches’ relations would “develop steadily” in the years to come.

“You begin your ministry as Primate of the Roman Catholic Church at a special moment in history associated with a number of challenges facing the civilisation, as well as with certain signs of hope,” he said.

“In this context, the relationship between the Christian East and the Christian West acquires particular importance for the future of the world.”

Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church, in his own message to the new Pope, emphasised the need for a “united voice of Christians … in a world facing multiple spiritual, economic, and social crises”. He also asked that Pope Leo continue to support Orthodox Romanians living in Italy and elsewhere in Western Europe.

Bartholomew hopes new pope will sustain Francis’ ecumenism with Nicaea visit

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