As the papal plane flew Pope Leo XIV from Türkiye to Lebanon on Sunday afternoon, he took a moment to answer questions from reporters traveling with him on his first Apostolic Journey.

The Pope began by expressing his appreciation for his visit to Türkiye, especially the work of the Turkish government.

Following is the text of the press conference:

Pope Leo XIV (in English): Good afternoon to you all. I’ll speak English to start; I think most of you understand. I’m happy to greet you. I hope you all had as good a time in Türkiye as I did. I think it was a wonderful experience.

As you know, the primary reason for coming to Türkiye was the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. We had that magnificent celebration, very simple and yet very profound, on the site of one of the ancient basilicas of Nicaea to commemorate the great event of the agreement of the whole Christian community and the profession of faith, the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed.

Besides that, of course, there were many other events that we celebrated. I personally want to express to all of you my gratitude for all the work that went into planning the visit, beginning with the Nuncio, the staff, the whole team from Rome, of course, that did all the organization, but in a very special way the government of Türkiye, President Erdogan and so many people that he put at our disposition in order to make sure that the trip would be a total success, his personal helicopter, many means of transportation, organization, etc, the presence of the ministers in various moments along the visit, so it was, I think, a great success.

I was very happy to have the different moments we had with the different Churches, with the different Christian communities, with the Orthodox Churches, culminating this morning with the Divine Liturgy with Patriarch Bartholomew. So, it was a wonderful celebration, and I hope that all of you shared that same experience, so thank you. I don’t know if there are any questions or comments, just a couple because they are waiting for me for more photos.

Q: Baris Seçkin (Anadolu Ajansi): Thank you very much. At the beginning of your papal trip you made reference to world and regional peace. In this regard, what is your comment on Türkiye’s role in achieving and maintaining world and regional peace, and what were your discussions with President Erdogan on this matter?

To have come to Türkiye, and of course now to Lebanon, on this trip there was of course a special theme of, if you will, being a messenger of peace, of wanting to promote peace throughout the region.

Türkiye has a number of, if you will, qualities about it; it is a country with the vast majority being Muslims, and yet the presence of numerous Christian communities there, although a very small minority, and yet people of different religions are able to live in peace. And that is one example, I would say, of what I think we all would be looking for throughout the world.

To say that in spite of religious differences, in spite of ethnic differences, in spite of many other differences, people can indeed live in peace. Türkiye itself has had, of course, in its history various moments when it was not always the case, and yet to have experienced that and to have been able to speak also with President Erdogan about peace, I think, was an important element, a worthwhile element of my visit.

Q: Seyda Canepa (NTV, in Italian): Your Holiness, with President Erdogan, other than the official declarations, did you speak about the situation in Gaza since the Vatican and Türkiye have the same point of view on the solution of two people, two states? On Ukraine, the Vatican has underlined more than once the role of Türkiye, starting from the opening of the grain corridor at the beginning of the conflict. So, do you see hope for a ceasefire in Ukraine and for a faster peace process in Gaza in this moment?

(In Italian): Certainly, we spoke about both situations. The Holy See for several years has publicly supported the proposal of a two-state solution. We all know that in this moment Israel still does not accept this solution, but we see it as the only solution that could offer—let us say—a solution to the conflict that they continuously live.

We are also friends of Israel, and we try with the two sides to be a mediating voice that can help draw closer to a solution with justice for all.

I spoke about this with President Erdogan; he is certainly in agreement with this proposal. Türkiye has an important role that it could play in all of this.

The same with Ukraine. Already some months ago, with the possibility of dialogue between Ukraine and Russia, the President helped a lot in convoking the two sides. We still have, unfortunately, not seen a solution, but today again there are concrete proposals for peace. And let us hope that President Erdogan, with his relationship with the Presidents of Ukraine, Russia, and the United States, may help in this sense to promote dialogue, a ceasefire, and to see how to resolve this conflict, this war in Ukraine.

He suggests (Matteo Bruni, ed.) that I say a word after the important ecumenical meeting in Nicaea, and then, yesterday morning, we spoke about possible future meetings.

One would be in 2033, 2,000 years since the Redemption, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ; that obviously is an event that all Christians want to celebrate. The idea was welcomed; we still haven’t sent the invitation, but the possibility exists to celebrate, perhaps in Jerusalem in 2033, this great event of the Resurrection. There are still years to prepare it.

However, it was a very beautiful encounter, because Christians of different traditions were present and were able to participate in this time.

Thank you all.