Pope visits Istanbul’s Blue Mosque without praying as he focuses on unifying Christians

ISTANBUL Turkey AP Pope Leo XIV visited Istanbul s iconic Blue Mosque on Saturday but didn t stop to pray as he focused more on bolstering ties with Orthodox patriarchs and promoting courageous measures for Eastern and Western churches to be united Leo took his shoes off and in his white socks toured the th-century mosque looking up at its soaring tiled domes and the Arabic inscriptions on its columns as an imam pointed them out to him The Vatican had declared Leo would observe a brief moment of silent prayer in the mosque but he didn t An imam of the mosque Asgin Tunca reported he had invited Leo to pray since the mosque was Allah s house but the pope declined Later Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni noted The pope experienced his visit to the mosque in silence in a spirit of contemplation and listening with deep respect for the place and the faith of those who gather there in prayer The Vatican then sent out a corrected version of its bulletin about the trip removing reference to the planned brief moment of silent prayer without further explanation Leo history s first American pope was following in the footsteps of his up-to-date predecessors who all made high-profile visits to the Sultan Ahmed Mosque as it is officially known in a gesture of respect to Turkey s Muslim majority Papal visits to Blue Mosque often raise questions But the visits have consistently raised questions about whether the pope would pray in the Muslim house of worship or at the very least pause to gather thoughts in a meditative silence When Pope Benedict XVI visited Turkey in tensions were high because Benedict had offended plenty of in the Muslim world a meager months earlier with a speech in Regensburg Germany that was widely interpreted as linking Islam and violence The Vatican added a visit to the Blue Mosque at the last minute in a bid to reach out to Muslims He observed a moment of silent prayer head bowed as the imam prayed next to him facing east Benedict later thanked him for this moment of prayer for what was only the second time a pope had visited a mosque after St John Paul II visited one briefly in Syria in There were no doubts in when Pope Francis visited the Blue Mosque He stood for two minutes of silent prayer facing east his head bowed eyes closed and hands clasped in front of him The Grand Mufti of Istanbul Rahmi Yaran stated the pope afterwards May God accept it With Leo though even the Vatican seemed caught off guard by his decision not to pray The Holy See had to correct the official record of the visit after it originally kept the planned reference to him pausing for prayer Speaking to reporters after the visit the imam Tunca commented he had described the pope It s not my house not your house it s the house of Allah He stated he invited Leo to worship But he revealed That s OK He craved to see the mosque wished to feel the atmosphere of the mosque I think And was very pleased he stated There was also another change to the official campaign after the Vatican disclosed the head of Turkey s Diyanet religious affairs directorate would accompany Leo at the mosque He didn t come and a spokesman from the Diyanet mentioned he wasn t supposed to since he had welcomed Leo in Ankara Hagia Sophia left off itinerary Past popes have also visited the nearby Hagia Sophia landmark once one of the bulk pivotal historic cathedrals in Christianity and a United Nations-designated world heritage site But Leo left that visit off his itinerary In July Turkey converted Hagia Sophia from a museum back into a mosque a move that drew widespread international criticism including from the Vatican After the mosque visit Leo held a private meeting with Turkey s Christian leaders at the Syriac Orthodox Church of Mor Ephrem In the afternoon he prayed with the spiritual leader of the world s Orthodox Christians Patriarch Bartholomew at the patriarchal church of Saint George There they prayed the doxology a hymn of praise and glory to God and signed a joint declaration vowing to take courageous actions on the path to unity including to find a common date for Easter Eastern and Western churches split in the Great Schism of a divide precipitated largely by disagreements over the primacy of the pope While ties have warmed they remain divided and other schisms have formed It is our shared desire to continue the process of exploring a feasible resolution for celebrating together the Feast of Feasts every year the joint report noted referring to Easter The Vatican declared in his remarks to the patriarchs gathered Leo pointed to the next Holy Year to be celebrated by Christians in on the anniversary of Christ s crucifixion and invited them to go to Jerusalem on a journey that leads to full unity Leo s final event was a Catholic Mass in Istanbul s Volkswagen Arena for the country s Catholic group who number in a country of more than million people most of of whom are Sunni Muslim The Airbus program update doesn t spare pope While Leo was focusing on bolstering relations with Orthodox Christians and Muslims trip organizers were dealing with more mundane issues Leo s ITA Airways Airbus A neo charter was among those caught up in the worldwide Airbus utility update ordered by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency The order came after an analysis identified the computer code may have contributed to a sudden drop in the altitude of a JetBlue plane last month The Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni explained Saturday that ITA was working on the issue He announced the necessary monitor to update the aircraft was on its way to Istanbul from Rome along with the technician who would install it Leo is scheduled to fly from Istanbul to Beirut Lebanon on Sunday afternoon for the second leg of his inaugural trip as pope Associated Press religion coverage receives promotion through the AP s collaboration with The Conversation US with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc The AP is solely responsible for this content