Sat Nov 29 11:50:00 UTC 2025: ## Pope Leo XIV Visits Istanbul’s Blue Mosque, Sparks Confusion Over Prayer
Istanbul, Turkey – Pope Leo XIV made his first visit to a mosque since his election on Saturday, touring the iconic Blue Mosque in Istanbul. While the pontiff respectfully removed his shoes before entering the 17th-century Ottoman-era architectural masterpiece, he did not appear to pray, sparking confusion and prompting a retraction from the Vatican.
Accompanied by local Muslim leaders, Pope Leo, known for his fondness for his “white socks,” as he joked recently as he’s a Chicago White Sox baseball fan, was guided through the mosque’s courtyard and interior. Aşgın Tunca, a Muezzin at the Blue Mosque, revealed that Pope Leo had been invited to pray during his visit, but declined. “I offered [to] him, if he would like to worship here, but he said ‘no, I am just going to look around,” Tunca stated, adding that he had been informed beforehand that the Pope would pray.
The visit was further complicated by an erroneous statement released by the Vatican press office, claiming that the Pope had prayed at the mosque and been welcomed by the head of Turkey’s state-run religious body. The Vatican swiftly retracted the statement, citing it as an error taken from pre-trip briefing materials.
Pope Leo’s visit follows in the footsteps of his predecessors. In 2014, Pope Francis engaged in two minutes of silent prayer at the same mosque, while Pope Benedict XVI observed a “silent meditation” in 2006, actions which were interpreted by some as the first instances of a Pope praying in a Muslim place of worship.
Following Leo’s visit, the Vatican clarified that the Pope had “visited the Mosque in silence, in a spirit of reflection and listening, with profound respect for the place and the faith of those gathered here in prayer.”
The visit underscores the Catholic Church’s ongoing commitment to inter-religious dialogue with the Muslim world, a practice that has significantly evolved over the past six decades. Pope Leo recently commemorated the 60th anniversary of a pivotal church declaration on inter-religious cooperation, an event that drew hundreds of religious leaders to the Vatican.
The first papal visit to a mosque occurred in 2001 when Pope John Paul II visited one in Syria.
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