On the third day of his visit in Turkey, the Pope travelled to Istanbul’s Blue Mosque, an iconic imperial mosque in the heart of Istanbul and an emblem of the
The post Why Leo XIV did not pray in the Blue Mosque appeared first on The Catholic Thing.
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On the third day of his visit in Turkey, the Pope travelled to Istanbul’s Blue Mosque, an iconic imperial mosque in the heart of Istanbul and an emblem of the country’s Islamic identity. On entering the mosque, one of its imams invited the Pope to pray, saying, “It’s not my house, not your house, [it’s the] house of Allah.” However, Pope Leo responded to the invitation by politely declining. The Vatican then corrected its earlier assertion that the Pope had prayed by saying he had visited the mosque “in a spirit of reflection and attentive listening, with deep respect for the place and for the faith of those who gather there in prayer.” Like wearing the mozzetta or choosing the papal name Leo, the pope’s decision not to pray in the mosque was itself symbolic.
