Pope Leo calls for a two-state solution in Mideast conflict

Pope Leo XIV is flanked by President Joseph Aoun of Lebanon and his wife, Nehmat Aoun, upon his arrival at the airport in Beirut on Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025. The pontiff met political leaders upon his arrival on Sunday and is scheduled to later celebrate Mass at a Beirut port destroyed by an explosion five years ago. Diego Ibarra Sánchez/The New York Times

By MOTOKO RICH

Shortly after takeoff from Istanbul after completing the first leg of his inaugural international trip, Pope Leo XIV said he had spoken with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey about serving as a “mediating voice” to help Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories negotiate a two-state solution.

“We all know that right now Israel does not accept this situation,” the pope said, speaking in Italian in response to a Turkish reporter’s question about the Vatican’s position on the conflicts in the Gaza Strip and Ukraine. Leo, noting that the Vatican is “also friends with Israel,” said a two-state solution was “the only solution” to “the conflict they continually live.” He added, “Turkey has an important role that it can play in this.”

The pope’s answer was in accordance with long-standing Vatican policy. The Vatican also has criticized Israel’s conduct during the war in Gaza. In October, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See’s secretary of state, said Israel was conducting a “massacre” in Gaza as retribution for Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Parolin described those attacks as an “inhuman massacre.” After the Israeli government objected to Parolin’s comments, Leo said that the cardinal “expressed the Holy See’s opinion in this matter very well.”

Leo, who thanked Erdogan for the use of his personal helicopter, said on the plane that the Turkish leader had spent many months talking with the presidents of Russia and Ukraine to try to resolve the war in Ukraine. Leo said he hoped that, given Erdogan’s relationships with the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and the United States, which is trying to broker a ceasefire, the Turkish president could help “promote dialogue” that would lead to a ceasefire and ultimately an end to the war.

The pope spoke after spending three days in Turkey, meeting leaders of Catholic and Orthodox Christian churches as well as government officials. He traveled to Iznik, the site of ancient Nicaea, where he participated in an ecumenical service overlooking the ruins of the ancient Byzantine Basilica of Saint Neophytos. In Istanbul, he visited the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque, and on Saturday evening, he presided over his first Mass outside Italy, at an arena in Istanbul.

On the plane, Leo said that Turkey was a country where, although Christians are a very small minority, “people of different religions are able to live in peace.” Speaking in English, he described Turkey as an example of “what we all would be looking for throughout the world — that in spite of religious differences, in spite of ethnic differences, in spite of many other differences, people can indeed live in peace.”

As the plane descended toward Beirut for the start of the pope’s 2 1/2-day visit, reporters on board spotted fighter jets off both wings of the Airbus 320 that had been rented for the papal trip.

Soon after landing in Beirut, the pope visited the presidential palace, and Lebanon’s Catholic president, Joseph Aoun. Both men spoke at the palace to a gathering of government officials and diplomats.

Lebanon, the only Arab country with a Christian head of state, has a significant population of Christians and has been a bulwark for the Catholic church in the Middle East. Nonetheless, Lebanon’s Christians fear marginalization, in a country where sectarian divisions between Sunni Muslims, Shiite Muslims and Christians are a long-standing problem.

“We implore you to tell the world that we shall not die, nor leave, nor despair, nor surrender,” Aoun said, addressing the pope. “We will stay here, breathe freedom, invent joy, perfect love, cherish innovation, embrace modernity and create every day a life worth living.”

In his remarks, Leo encouraged the Lebanese to stay, despite economic, political and security concerns. “There are times when it is easier to flee, or simply more convenient to move elsewhere,” Leo said. “It takes real courage and foresight to stay or return to one’s own country, and to consider even somewhat difficult situations worthy of love and dedication.”

He acknowledged the violence and poverty that could drive young people in particular to emigrate, and the value of building a diaspora, but said that “we must not forget that remaining in our homeland and working day by day to develop a civilization of love and peace remains something very valuable.”