Pope Leo XIV arrives with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world's Eastern Orthodox Christians to celebrate a Mass at the Volkswagen Arena, in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
With his foreign trip to Turkey and Lebanon, Pope Leo XIV became the first American pope on the road. The journey fulfilled a visit Pope Francis had hoped to make before his health declined, and it gave Leo a prominent platform to speak about peace in the Middle East. In a notable shift from the Vatican’s traditional use of Italian, he addressed audiences exclusively in English while in Turkey and in both English and French during his time in Lebanon.
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This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
Pope Leo XIV peers from a window on board his papal plane bound to Istanbul, at Esenboga International Airport in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025, during the first of his six-day trip to Turkey and Lebanon. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)Pope Leo XIV, in the background center, visits the Ottoman-era Sultan Ahmed (Blue) Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)People attend a Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV at the Volkswagen Arena, in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Dilara Acikgoz)A Turkish honor guard prepares ahead of the arrival of the papal plane carrying Pope Leo XIV at Esenboga International Airport in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025, marking the start of his first foreign trip. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)Orthodox clerics wait for Pope Leo XIV to arrive for a doxology service at the Patriarchal Church of Saint George, in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)Pope Leo XIV celebrates a Divine Liturgy led by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world’s Eastern Orthodox Christians at the Patriarchal Church of Saint George, in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)A woman shows her t-shirt as she arrives for a Mass led by Pope Leo XIV at the Volkswagen Arena venue, in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Dilara Acikgoz)Pope Leo XIV, left, and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world’s Eastern Orthodox Christians, second left, leave after an Ecumenical prayer service at archaeological excavations of the ancient Byzantine-era Christian Saint Neophytos Basilica, in Iznik, Turkey, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, marking the 1,700 years anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)Pope Leo XIV visits the nursing home of the Little Sisters of the Poor, in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)Valerena Yashou holds her painting of the Pope Leo XIV as the crowd wait for him to leave after attending the Doxology with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world’s Eastern Orthodox Christians, at the Patriarchal Church of Saint George, in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)Two Lebanese air force fighters escort Pope Leo XIV’s plane as it flies over Beirut, Lebanon, on it’s way to the international airport, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)A woman holds a pictures of Hezbollah’s former leader Hassan Nasrallah as people wait to welcome Pope Leo XIV upon his arrival to Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)The convoy escorting Pope Leo XIV drives past war-damaged buildings in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, following his arrival. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)A group of nuns reach out to Pope Leo XIV as he arrives to the Catholic basilica of Harissa, Lebanon Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)Pope Leo XIV attends an ecumenical and interreligious meeting at Martyrs’ Square in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)Pope Leo XIV sits as he celebrates a Holy Mass at Beirut waterfront, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)Lebanese security personnel deploy on the roof of the Monastery of Saint Maroun ahead of Pope Leo XIV’s arrival in Annaya, Lebanon, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)Pope Leo XIV arrives for a meeting with young people in the Square in front of the Maronite Patriarchate of Antioch in Bkerki, Lebanon, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)Pope Leo XIV arrives for a meeting with young people in the Square in front of the Maronite Patriarchate of Antioch in Bkerke, Lebanon, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)Pope Leo XIV meets with bishops, priests, consecrated people and pastoral workers at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa, Lebanon, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)Boys dressed as cardinals wait for the arrival of Pope Leo XIV at the Psychiatric Hospital of the Cross in the town of Jal el-Dib, north of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, right, shakes hands with Pope Leo XIV as they meet at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025.(AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)A man lifts a child holding a Vatican flag ahead of a visit by Pope Leo XIV to Bkerki, the seat of the Maronite Church, in Lebanon, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)The popemobile carrying Pope Leo XIV arrives at the Monastery of Saint Maroun in Annaya, Lebanon, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)Rose petals are scattered to Pope Leo XIV as he leaves after visiting the Psychiatric Hospital of the Cross in the town of Jal el-Dib, north of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)The sun peeks from behind a portrait of Pope Leo XIV before his arrival at the Psychiatric Hospital of the Cross in the town of Jal el-Dib, north of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)Nuns hold up images of Lebanese Maronite nun Saint Rafqa as they wait for Pope Leo XIV to celebrate a Holy Mass at Beirut waterfront, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)Pope Leo XIV waves as he boards a flight back to the Vatican after his visit to Lebanon at Beirut International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
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