Pope Leo tours Istanbul's famous Blue Mosque, declines to pray alongside imam

Fox News - WorldCenter-RightEN 5 min read 100% complete by Associated PressNovember 29, 2025 at 04:59 PM

AI Summary

long article 5 min

Pope Leo XIV visited Istanbul's Blue Mosque on Saturday as part of a trip focused on strengthening ties with Orthodox leaders and promoting church unity. While touring the mosque, he removed his shoes and listened to an imam explain the mosque's features. Despite a prior Vatican announcement of a "brief moment of silent prayer," Pope Leo did not pray in the mosque, declining an invitation from the imam. The Vatican later removed the reference to silent prayer from its bulletin. The visit follows similar gestures of respect by previous popes to Turkey's Muslim majority, with past visits raising questions about papal prayer in the mosque. Unlike Pope Benedict XVI in 2006 and Pope Francis in 2014, Pope Leo did not engage in silent prayer during his visit.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

Asgin Tunca 50% Blue Mosque ×460% Istanbul ×270% Vatican ×580% Pope Leo XIV ×9100%

Keywords

pope leo 100% blue mosque 90% interfaith relations 80% silent prayer 70% religious dialogue 60% vatican 60% istanbul 50% pope francis 40% catholic church 40%

Sentiment Analysis

Neutral

Score: 0.10

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Source

Fox News - World

Political Lean

Center-Right (0.50)

Far LeftCenterFar Right

Classification Confidence

90%

Geographic Perspective

Istanbul

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis. The political bias score ranges from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).

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pope leo blue mosque interfaith relations silent prayer religious dialogue vatican istanbul pope francis catholic church

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