meet political leaders and show his support to Christians in the region.

The first American pope will travel to Turkey from November 27-30 and then go to Lebanon from November 30 until December 2. While in Turkey, the pope will mark the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, an important church gathering which articulated Christian beliefs. The “Nicene creed” is still recited in churches across the world today. The Vatican said that Leo will travel to the town of Iznik, modern day Nicaea, for the anniversary and while in Turkey is expected to meet Ecumenical Patriarch Batholomew, the spiritual leader of the approximately 300 million Eastern orthodox Christians.

The Vatican said Leo was invited to visit Turkey and Lebanon by both civil and church leaders of both countries. Both are places Pope Francis had planned to visit before his health problems. The president of Lebanon Joseph Aoun, a Maronite Christian, invited Leo to visit the country when he met the pope in the Vatican in June. Lebanon is home to a significant Christian community, of which the Maronites are the largest, and the Vatican has paid close attention to the country’s political difficulties. In August, Leo sent a message for a service commemorating the 200 killed in the 2020 Beirut port explosion, and it’s expected that he will commemorate the victims while in Lebanon.

A detailed itinerary of his trip has yet to be released, but trips abroad are an opportunity for the pope to exercise soft power by addressing the country’s political leaders, meeting church leaders and those of different religions while supporting to the local Catholic community. “We welcome this historic event with great joy and renewed hope,” Lebanon’s Council of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishop said in a statement. “We hope that this apostolic visit to Lebanon will bring peace and stability and be a sign of unity for all Lebanese, Christians and Muslims alike, at this critical stage in our nation’s history.” (CNN/Reuters)