Pope Leo says he hopes to visit Turkey later this year

FILE PHOTO: Pope Leo XIV waves as he arrives at Castel Gandolfo, a hill town on the shores of Lake Albano, where he will be spending two weeks of vacation, in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, July 6, 2025. REUTERS/Vincenzo Livieri/File Photo

ROME (Reuters) -Pope Leo said on Thursday he hopes to travel to Turkey later this year for the 1,700th anniversary of a major Christian Church summit, in what would be the first foreign trip of his papacy.

The early centuries of Christianity were marked by a lively debate about how Jesus could be both God and man, and the Church decided on the issue at the First Council of Nicaea - now known as Iznik in Turkey - in 325.