Hawzah News Agency- The team showed the Pope around the mosque, including the pulpit and the mihrab, a prayer niche in the wall that indicates the direction to Makkah.
Mr Tunca, who makes the call to prayer mosque, accompanied the Pope inside, alongside other dignitaries, including the Mufti of Istanbul, Emrullah Tuncel, and Turkey's Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy.
“We explained the mihrab. We explained what we do. Then he asked some questions'', Mr Tunca said in an interview from the mosque’s courtyard. “I think he was especially impressed when the mihrab was explained to him''.
The visit was the American Pope’s first to a Muslim place of worship since his election as Catholic leader in May, and is widely seen as a gesture of unity between Christianity and Islam. He spent about 25 minutes at the site before travelling to a meeting with Christian leaders at a new church opened in Istanbul in 2023.
Pope Leo, 70, visited the mosque, “in a spirit of recollection and attentive listening, with deep respect for the place and for the faith of those who gather there in prayer”, the Holy See Press Office said.
Source: The National
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