By Joshua McElwee
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Pope Leo will embark on his first trip outside Italy on Thursday, travelling to Turkey and Lebanon. Here is a history of papal foreign visits, which have become a major part of the agenda for the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
POPE PAUL VI (1963 to 1978)
Pope Paul VI was the first leader of the Church to leave Italy in 150 years. He made nine foreign visits, with the first a trip to Israel and Jordan in 1964. He travelled to the U.N. headquarters in New York in 1965, where he addressed the General Assembly in French, pleading: “No more war, never again war!”
POPE JOHN PAUL II (1978 to 2005)
Pope John Paul II, whose pontificate spanned nearly 27 years, made 104 foreign visits, logging well over one million km (600,000 miles) and visiting 129 countries. Elected pope at age 58, he was known for energetic, non-stop itineraries and for emphasizing international diplomacy. On a trip to Asia in 1984, he made a stopover in Alaska, where U.S. President Ronald Reagan travelled to welcome him and discuss world issues.
POPE BENEDICT XVI (2005 to 2013)
Pope Benedict XVI, from Germany, made 25 foreign visits, largely to European countries. On a trip to Germany in 2006 he caused widespread anger among Muslims by suggesting Islam was violent, quoting a passage by a 14th-century Byzantine emperor. Later that year, he made a trip to Turkey to foster reconciliation between Christians and Muslims. Benedict’s last visit was to Lebanon, in September 2012.
POPE FRANCIS (2013 to 2025)
Pope Francis made 47 foreign visits to 66 countries, often choosing places with non-Catholic populations to highlight people and problems in what he called the “peripheries” of the world. He was the first pope to visit Mongolia, Myanmar, South Sudan, and Iraq, among others. A visit to the Philippines in 2015 included the largest papal event to date, with crowds estimated as high as seven million for a Mass in Manila.
POPE LEO XIV (Elected in 2025)
Pope Leo, 70 and in good health, is widely expected to undertake many foreign visits. A trip to Peru, where he served as a missionary for decades, is all but certain during 2026. Leo said he would also like to visit Portugal, Mexico, Uruguay and Argentina, in comments on November 18.
(Reporting by Joshua McElwee; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
