“His Holiness Francis has accepted the invitation extended to him by the President of the Republic, His Holiness Bartholomew I and the President of the Episcopal Conference and will make an apostolic visit to Turkey from 28 to 30 November 2014, stopping off in Ankara and Istanbul.” This was the message issued by Vatican spokesman, Fr. Federico Lombardi, officially confirming Pope Francis’ 6th international voyage.
Francis travelled to Brazil in the summer of 2013, to the Holy Land last spring, to South Korea in August, to Albania in September and will be visiting the European Parliament and the European Council in Strasbourg on 25 November, just a few days before he leaves for Turkey. In January Pope Francis will go to Sri Lanka and the Philippines.
The Holy See Press Office has now published the schedule of Francis trip to Turkey. The Pope will be arriving in Ankara at 1 p.m. on Friday 28 November, where he will visit the Mausoleum of Ataturk. He will then attend a welcome ceremony at the presidential palace where he will be received by the President of the Republic, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. This will be followed by a meeting with the authorities, an audience with Turkey’s Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and a visit to the president of Religious Affairs in the Diyanet. The next morning, on Saturday 29th, Pope Francis will fly to Istanbul, where he will visit theHagia Sophia Museum, the Sultan Ahmet Mosque, better known as the Blue Mosque, and the Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, where he will celebrate Mass. Later, in the patriarchal Church of St. George, there will be an ecumenical prayer and a private meeting with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I.
Finally, on Sunday 30th Pope Francis will mark the Feast of St. Andrew, patron saint of the Church of Constantinople by celebrating Mass privately with the apostolic delegation. In the patriarchal Church of St. George a divine liturgy will take place, followed by an ecumenical blessing and the signing of the Joint Declaration with Bartholomew I. In the late afternoon the Holy Father will take the return flight from Istanbul Airport at 5 p.m. He is expected to arrive at Fiumicino Airport, at 6.40 p.m. CET.
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