Il Nuovo Postiglione - Pope to visit Istanbul's Blue Mosque

It will be the first time the American pope, who was elected in May as leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, visits a Muslim place of worship since taking over from his late predecessor Francis, who championed dialogue with Islam.

With such a highly symbolic gesture, Leo follows in the footsteps of Pope Benedict XVI, who visited the site in 2006, and Francis who did the same in 2014 accompanied by the Grand Mufti of Istanbul.

But unlike them, he will not be visiting the nearby Hagia Sophia, the legendary sixth-century basilica, which was built during the Byzantine Empire and converted into a mosque following the conquest of Constantinople in 1453.

In a key reform by post-Ottoman Turkish authorities led by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the Hagia Sophia became a museum in 1935. And 50 years later, it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site.

But in 2020, it was converted back into a mosque in a move that drew international condemnation, including from the late Pope Francis who said he was "very saddened" by the decision of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Critics have accused Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted AKP party of chipping away at the Muslim-majority country's secular pillars.

The Blue Mosque -- which gets its name from the vibrant blue Iznik tiles that line its interior -- is one of Istanbul's main tourist attractions.

With its six towering minarets, the mosque was built in the early 17th century during the reign of Sultan Ahmed I, on part of the former Hippodrome, a huge chariot-racing stadium that was a central feature of Constantinople when it was the Byzantine capital.

On Saturday afternoon, Leo will meet local church leaders and attend a brief service at the Patriarchal Church of St. George before joining Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I at his palace on the banks of the Golden Horn estuary.

There, the two spiritual leaders will sign a joint declaration, the content of which has not yet been made public.

Later that same day, Leo will hold a mass at the city's Volkswagen Arena, where some 4,000 worshippers are expected to join him.

The pontiff flew to Iznik on Friday for an ecumenical prayer service to mark 1,700 years since one of the early Church's most important gatherings.

On Sunday morning, after a prayer service at the Armenian cathedral and leading a divine liturgy, the Orthodox equivalent of a mass, at St George's, he will head to Lebanon for the second leg of his trip -- his first overseas tour since being elected to the position.

E.Scozzafava--INP