Leo XIV will set out on his first foreign trip as pope on the morning of Nov. 27, first to Turkey, a Muslim country with a tiny Christian population, and then, on Nov. 30, to Lebanon, the country with the largest Christian population in the Middle East.

Pontiff meets church leaders from Turkey, Egypt, Israel to mark anniversary of early council; urges followers to care for migrants, day after talks with Erdogan

Pope Leo XIV started the second day of his tour of Turkey and Lebanon meeting bishops and other church officials at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, a 19th-century Baroque church in Istanbul’s Sisli district.

Ahead of Pope Leo XIV’s to Türkiye and Lebanon, Cardinal Pietro Parolin says the pontiff wants to meet the Christian communities in the country’s where they make up a minority.

While speaking with reporters on Nov. 25, 2025, Pope Leo commented on Thanksgiving and addressed concerns about violence in Lebanon before his upcoming visit.