Pope Leo XIV Takes Different Approach at Historic Istanbul Mosque

Pope Leo XIV departed from the practices of his three immediate predecessors this weekend when he declined an invitation to pray at Istanbul’s famed Blue Mosque, marking a subtle but significant shift in papal protocol during interfaith encounters.

The newly elected pontiff, conducting his first international tour as Bishop of Rome, visited the Sultan Ahmed Mosque on Saturday as part of his Apostolic Visit to Turkey. In a gesture of respect for the sacred space, Pope Leo removed his shoes and toured the 17th-century structure in his white socks. However, when Imam Asgin Tunca invited him to pray in what the cleric described as “Allah’s house,” the Pope politely declined, stating simply, “No, I am just going to look around.”

The decision represents a departure from recent papal practice. Pope Francis prayed in “silent adoration” during his 2014 visit to the same mosque, while Pope Benedict XVI prayed alongside Istanbul’s head cleric during his 2006 visit. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni later clarified that Pope Leo “experienced his visit to the mosque in silence, in a spirit of contemplation and listening, with deep respect for the place and the faith of those who gather there in prayer.”

Turkey, once a thriving center of Christianity in the ancient world, now counts 99.8 percent of its population as Muslim. The Vatican had briefed journalists to expect a “brief moment of silent prayer” from the pontiff, making his decision all the more noteworthy.

Pope Benedict’s 2006 visit to the Blue Mosque carried particular historical weight, as it followed controversy sparked by his quotation of 14th-century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos, who described Islam as having been “spread by the sword” in an “evil and inhuman” manner. That visit marked only the second time in history that a Pope had entered a mosque, following Pope John Paul II’s 2001 tour of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria. While John Paul offered prayers during that visit, the Vatican firmly rejected demands that he remove his Cross or apologize for the Crusades.

Pope Leo XIV also broke with precedent by not visiting the Hagia Sophia, the magnificent Byzantine-era church that served as the Cathedral of Constantinople before the Ottoman conquest of 1453 transformed it into a mosque. The structure functioned as a museum for much of the 20th century, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government reconverted it to a mosque in 2020, creating fresh tensions between Turkey and the Catholic Church.

When questioned about the omission, Vatican spokesman Bruni offered a straightforward explanation on Thursday: “It simply was not put on the program.” All three of Pope Leo’s immediate predecessors had visited the historic site during their respective trips to Turkey.

The Pope did participate in prayer during his Turkish visit, joining Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I for a service at the Patriarchal Church, underscoring the continued importance of Catholic-Orthodox relations.

These carefully calibrated decisions during Pope Leo XIV’s first international journey suggest a pontiff who, while maintaining diplomatic courtesy and respect for other faiths, may be charting a course that differs in meaningful ways from the approach of recent decades. How this shapes future papal diplomacy in an increasingly complex religious landscape remains to be seen.