Pope visits “Blue Mosque”, symbol of Islam’s arrival in Ottoman Empire

Pope Leo XIV in the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul. November 29, 2025. Photo: Video screenshot, Vatican Media

On the morning of November 29, 2025, Pope Leo XIV visited the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul, known as the Blue Mosque, built in the seventeenth century in an attempt to surpass the grandeur of the nearby Christian cathedral of Hagia Sophia. According to the Vatican press office, the construction of the mosque aimed to make it the most significant place of worship in the Ottoman Empire.

The Blue Mosque was built as Islam’s response and as an effort to surpass the grandeur of the Christian Hagia Sophia located nearby. It became one of the most expressive symbols of Islam’s presence in the former Constantinople. Constructed in 1617 by Sultan Ahmed I on the grounds of the Byzantine Great Palace, it was conceived as the principal prayer center of the Ottoman Empire. Historically, many Christians have viewed this place as a sign of the definitive establishment of Islam in the former capital of Byzantium.

“The Pope experienced the visit to the Mosque in silence, in a spirit of recollection and attentive listening, with deep respect for the place and for the faith of those who gather there in prayer,” the Holy See Press Office wrote.

Pope Leo was accompanied by the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy; the provincial mufti of Istanbul, Emrullah Tuncel; and the imam of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, Kurra Hafiz Fatih Kaya. Inside, muezzin Musa Aşgın Tunca led the Pope on a brief tour of the mosque.

Leo XIV became the third Pope to visit the Blue Mosque. Before him, Pope Francis (2014) and Benedict XVI (2006) stood there in silence. The first-ever visit of a Roman Catholic pontiff to a mosque took place in 2001, when John Paul II entered the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus.

After visiting the mosque, the pontiff plans to meet with the heads of the Local Churches and Christian communities at the Mor Ephrem Syrian Orthodox Church, after which he will join a joint doxology at the Ecumenical Patriarchate together with Patriarch Bartholomew.

As the UOJ reported, in Nicaea, Pope Leo and Patriarch Bartholomew recited the Creed without the filioque.

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