Pope Leo XIV will pray at the site of the 2020 Beirut port blast in his first foreign trip

ROME AP Pope Leo XIV will pray at the site of the port blast in Beirut that killed over people and compounded Lebanon s economic and political situation during his first foreign trip as pope next month that will also take him to Turkey to mark an critical anniversary with Orthodox Christians The Vatican on Monday distributed the itinerary of Leo s Nov -Dec trip It includes several moments for history s first American pope to speak about interfaith and ecumenical relations as well as the plight of Christians in the Middle East and regional tensions overall Pope Francis had planned to visit both countries but died earlier this year before he could he had particularly long required to go to Lebanon but the country s economic and political emergency prevented a visit during his lifetime The main impetus for travelling to Turkey this year was to mark the th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea Christianity s first ecumenical council Leo made clear from the start of his pontificate that he would keep Francis commitment and has several moments of prayer planned with the spiritual leader of the world s Orthodox Christians Patriarch Bartholomew I Nicaea currently located in znik on a lake southeast of Istanbul is one of seven ecumenical councils that are recognized by the Eastern Orthodox Leo will journey there by helicopter on Nov for a brief prayer near the archaeological excavations of the ancient Basilica of Saint Neophytos In addition to the traditional protocol visits with Turkish and Lebanese leaders meetings with Catholic clergy and liturgies Leo s visit to the site of the Aug Beirut port blast will likely be another stirring moment in his trip coming on its final day The blast tore through the Lebanese capital after hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate detonated in a warehouse The gigantic explosion killed at least people according to an AP count wounded more than others and devastated large swaths of Beirut causing billions of dollars in damages Lebanese citizens were enraged by the blast which appeared to be the upshot of leadership negligence coming on top of an economic dilemma spurred by decades of corruption and financial crimes But an probe into the causes of the blast repeatedly stalled and five years on no official has been convicted While Leo will celebrate Mass on the Beirut waterfront and passage to several areas near the Lebanese capital his itinerary is considerable for where he is not going He will not visit Lebanon s south battered by last year s war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah While the brunt of the destruction was concentrated in Shiite communities that form Hezbollah s main base of encouragement Christian communities were also impacted by the conflict with houses agricultural land and even churches destroyed Christians groups in southern Lebanon had lobbied for the pope to visit the area In Turkey there are also no plans for Leo to visit the landmark Hagia Sophia monument in Istanbul as previous popes have done The former Greek Orthodox patriarchal basilica which was a mosque during Ottoman times was a museum when Pope Francis visited in But in Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan s regime changed its status from a museum back to a mosque and opened it up to Muslim worship At the time Francis commented he was deeply pained by the decision Despite the renovations to preserve its historic domes Hagia Sofia remains open to visitors and worshippers Leo will visit the nearby Sultan Ahmed Mosque popularly known as the Blue Mosque