Pope Francis, spiritual leader of Catholic Christians and President of the Holy See, arrived in Turkey.
Along with his delegation, Pope arrived in Ankara’s Esenboğa Airport around 12:50pm local time by an airplane holding the official coat of arms of the Holy See. A military team poised for the reception ceremony.
Where will Pope visit?
Pope’s 3-day visit coincided with Saint Andrew Day - an important date for Orthodox Christians.
Within his visit program, Pope will also visit Atatürk’s Mausoleum in Ankara and meet President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in his presidential palace. Later on, he will meet PM Ahmet Davutoğlu.
In addition, Pope will visit Turkey’s Religious Affairs (Diyanet) Chairman Mehmet Görmez and hold a press conference.
Pope is expected to head to Istanbul tomorrow and visit Hagia Sophia Museum and Blue Mosque. Pope Francis will also attend a mass in Saint Esprit Catholic Church.
Approaching of Catholic and Orthodox Churches
Pope will also meet Patriarch Bartholomeos the Ecumenical. This meeting important as it represents the approaching of Catholic and Orthodox Churches in the past years. Pope and the Ecumenical will pray together Church of St. George (Aya Yorgi). On Sunday, they will make a joint declaration.
4th Pope visiting Turkey
Pope Francis marked the forth pope visiting Turkey. The first visitor was Pope Paul VI on July 25, 1967. The next visits also marked around the same period (November 28 to 30) with Pope Jean-Paul II in 1979 and Benedictus XVI in 2006. (NV/BM)
* bianet used sources from Agos newspaper to write this article.
* Clich here to read the article in Turkish.