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Pope Leo XIV delivered messages of peace and interfaith dialogue to thousands of attendees Saturday evening at a groundbreaking mass held at Volkswagen Arena, marking the first time in Türkiye's history that a papal mass has been conducted outside a church.
The Vatican head of state, addressing Christian communities and invited guests during his visit to Türkiye, drew symbolic meaning from Istanbul's geography as he spoke about building bridges between faiths and cultures. The three bridges spanning the Bosphorus strait reminded him of the importance of joint efforts to construct bridges of unity, he told the crowd of approximately 4,000 people.
"Like the bridges over the Bosphorus, the foundations of unity also require care, attention and maintenance so they remain solid and are not weakened by time and variables," Pope Leo XIV said, calling for every effort to nourish and strengthen bonds between communities.
The pontiff emphasized the need to dismantle barriers of prejudice and mistrust, stating his desire to walk together with other faiths "by appreciating what unites us, by tearing down walls of prejudice and distrust, by promoting mutual knowledge and respect, to give everyone a strong message of hope and to invite them to be peaceful."
The mass at the sports arena represented a significant departure from previous papal visits to Türkiye, where liturgies were confined to church buildings. Organized with support from the Turkish presidency, the event required an extensive vetting process to select attendees from Türkiye's Catholic population of approximately 33,000.
Catholic Church representatives described a multi-stage procedure that began with announcements in churches nationwide following the visit's announcement. Prospective attendees submitted forms with references from congregation members, which were reviewed by regional bishops and their secretariats before being forwarded to security authorities for screening. Though Volkswagen Arena's capacity reaches 5,800, the installation of a platform and security requirements limited attendance to roughly 4,000 people.
Church sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, highlighted the historic significance of the gathering despite its limited capacity. Previous papal visits required masses in churches where families could send only one representative, with some parishes resorting to lottery systems to determine who could attend.
Pope Leo XIV arrived in Ankara on Thursday before traveling to Istanbul. On Friday, he participated in commemorations marking the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea in Iznik, joining Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and other Christian spiritual leaders. The Council of Nicaea, convened in 325 CE, was the first ecumenical council of the Christian church and established fundamental doctrines still observed today.
Following Saturday's mass, the pope's schedule includes a prayer visit to the Armenian Apostolic Cathedral and Divine Liturgy at St. George Church, culminating in a common blessing ceremony with representatives from various Christian denominations. He will then depart for Beirut, Lebanon.
Pope Leo XIV is the fifth pontiff to visit Türkiye and continues a pattern of papal engagement with the country that dates to the 1960s. Since that decade, every pope except John Paul I, who served only 33 days, has made the journey to Türkiye.
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