Pope Leo XIV visited the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, but, for the first time in his pontificate, he did not stop to pray as his predecessors did.
The mosque’s muezzin, Askin Musa Tunca, who accompanied Leo XIV on this third day of his visit to Turkey, explained to the press that he was initially told that the Pope would pray there, but when he asked him if he wanted to have a “moment of praise”, the pontiff replied that “no, he just wanted to visit”.
The North American and Peruvian Pope was accompanied by Ali Erbas, president of the Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), thus becoming the fourth Pope to enter a mosque and the third to visit Sultan Ahmed’s, where Benedict XVI and Francis were also present.
A moment of silent recollection looking at Mecca was expected, as both Benedict XVI and Francis did, but Leo XIV decided not to do it, despite the invitation.
“It was explained to him that this was the house of Allah and that he could have a moment of praise”, but he replied that “that was fine” and walked around the mosque for 20 minutes while listening to the explanations of the muezzin, who guides the prayer.
As Islamic culture dictates, Leo XIV had to take off his shoes to enter and then admired the colors of Sultan Ahmed’s vaults.
John Paul II was the first pontiff to enter a mosque, when he visited Damascus in 2001, in a historic moment as no one else had visited this place. He himself visited the Esplanade of Mosques in Jerusalem in 2000, but did not enter any.
The Blue Mosque is situated in Sultanahmet square and was built in the early 17th century. Its name derives from the blue Iznik tile mosaics found in the inner courtyard.
Its construction generated great controversy in the Muslim world, as its six minarets were considered a sacrilegious attack as they rivaled Mecca.
In response, Mecca added another minaret to its mosque to assert its superiority as the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad and the place of pilgrimage for Muslims.
The Blue Mosque, located in front of Hagia Sophia (Saint Sophia), was built by Sinan Ibn Abdulmennan, or Mimar Sinan (in Turkish, “Architect Sinan”), who was the chief of imperial architects and whose ideas revolutionized the aesthetic conception of Islam.
On his trip in 2006, Benedict XVI prayed in this mosque in front of the mihrab, the niche in the wall that indicates the direction of Mecca, and the then Vatican spokesman, Federico Lombardi, had to specify that it was a moment of “recollection”. This gesture marked a milestone in relations with Islam and served to erase the controversy that arose after the German Pope’s speech in Regensburg.
In 2014, Pope Francis also had a moment of “silent adoration” in the same place as his predecessor.