The Vatican on Tuesday
confirmed that Pope Francis will visit Turkey next month,
publishing the programme of his three-day trip from November 28
to 30.
The Argentine pontiff will go to the capital Ankara and to
Istanbul, where he will visit the city's famous 17th-century
Blue Mosque, whose proper name is the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, and
the Hagia Sophia.
The presence of the pope, who has repeatedly sought to
unite with Muslim leader and representatives of other faiths in
calls for peace in the Middle East, at both sites will be of
great symbolic importance.
The Blue Mosque is one of the world's most famous mosques
and Francis's predecessor Benedict XVI also paid a visit in
2006.
Now a museum, the Hagia Sophia is now a museum, served as
an Eastern Orthodox cathedral and seat of the Patriarchate of
Constantinople from 537 until 1453.
It was also a mosque under the Ottomans after Mehmed II
conquered Constantinople in 1453.
The pope is scheduled to fly from Rome's Fiumicino airport
on Friday, November 28, at 9.00 and land in Ankara at 13:00
local time.
One of his first engagements will be at mausoleum of
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish republic.
The visit will be followed by a welcoming ceremony at the
presidential palace with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Francis will then meet Premier Ahmet Davutoglu.
On Saturday, November 29, the pope will fly from Ankara to
Istanbul where he is expected to land one hour after takeoff, at
10.30 am local time.
After visiting the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia, he
will celebrate mass in the Catholic cathedral of the Holy
Spirit.
This will be followed by prayer service at the Patriarchal
Basilica of St George, the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
of Constantinople.
Francis will then have a private meeting with Orthodox
Patriarch Bartholomew I, who is considered he spiritual leader
of the world's Eastern Orthodox Christians.
On Sunday, November 30, after a private mass with the
apostolic delegation, Francis will participate in a divine
liturgy for St Andrew at St George, followed by an ecumenical
blessing and the signing of the Joint Declaration.
Then a lunch has been organized with Bartholomew I at the
ecumenical Patriarchate in Fanar.
The pontiff's departure from Istanbul's Ataturk airport is
scheduled at 17:00 and he is scheduled to arrive in Rome at
18:40.
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