{"id":55643,"date":"2025-11-27T16:36:55","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T14:36:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.omnesmag.com\/?p=55643"},"modified":"2025-11-30T10:49:02","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T08:49:02","slug":"leon-xiv-warns-turkey-about-polarization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.omnesmag.com\/en\/actualidad\/leon-xiv-alerta-en-turquia-sobre-la-polarizacion\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Francis warns Turkey about polarization: \u201cThe future is at stake\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u2013 Cindy Wooden, Ankara, Turkey (CNS)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pope Leo XIV began his first papal trip<\/a> in Ankara (Turkey), speaking of dialogue, peace, and thanksgiving, referring both to the holiday and to his own gratitude. A few minutes later, he would warn about polarization and the future of humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Addressing the President, other government officials, members of the diplomatic corps, and civic leaders, Pope Leo told them: \u201cToday, more than ever, we need people who promote dialogue and practice it with firm will and patient determination.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n After World War II, he said, the world came together and formed the United Nations and other international and regional organizations committed to dialogue, cooperation, and conflict resolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are living in a phase marked by increased global conflict, fueled by prevailing strategies of economic and military power,\u201d Pope Leo said. \u201cThis is leading to what Pope Francis called \u2018a third world war fought in pieces.\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe must not give in to this under any circumstances,\u201d insisted the Pope. \u201cThe future of humanity is at stake. The energies and resources absorbed by this destructive dynamic are being diverted from the real challenges that the human family should be facing together today, namely peace, the fight against hunger and poverty, health and education, and the protection of creation.\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a land where most people are Muslim, but the Constitution officially proclaims the nation to be secular, Pope Leo XIV praised both the tolerance of religious diversity and the encouragement given to people of all religions to practice their faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn a society such as Turkey\u2019s, where religion plays a visible role, it is essential to honor the dignity and freedom of all God\u2019s children, men and women, compatriots and foreigners, poor and rich,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00abWe are all children of God, and this has personal, social, and political implications,\u00bb he said, including working for the common good and respecting all people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pope Francis, who visited Turkey in 2014, urged all believers in God to \u201cfeel the pain of others and listen to the cry of the poor and of the earth,\u201d he said. \u201cThus, he encouraged us to compassionate action, which is a reflection of the one merciful and compassionate God\u201d \u2014 as Muslims often repeat \u2014 and \u201cslow to anger and rich in love,\u201d as the Psalms say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pope Leo XIV encouraged all the inhabitants of Turkey and all people of good will to defend social bonds, beginning with the family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPeople do not gain greater opportunities or happiness in an individualistic culture, nor by showing contempt for marriage or rejecting openness to life,\u00bb he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThose who despise fundamental human bonds and do not learn to endure even their limitations and fragility,\u201d he said, \u201cbecome more easily intolerant and incapable of interacting with our complex world.\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pope Leo asked the Turkish people to value their diversity, both cultural and religious. He assured them that the country's Catholic community\u2014some 35,000 people, or less than 11% of the population\u2014wishes to contribute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUniformity would be an impoverishment,\u201d said the Pope. \u201cIn fact, a society is alive if it has plurality, because what makes it a civil society are the bridges that unite its members.\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unfortunately, he said, today \u201ccommunities are increasingly polarized and torn apart by extreme positions that fragment them.\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Pope then headed to the airport to fly to Istanbul, where tomorrow, Friday, a prayer meeting will take place with bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated persons, and pastoral workers. There will also be an ecumenical prayer service near the archaeological excavations of the ancient basilica of St. Neophytus in \u0130znik, ancient Nicaea, where the first ecumenical council, in 325<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u2013 Cindy Wooden, Ankara, Turqu\u00eda (CNS) El Papa Le\u00f3n XIV comenz\u00f3 su primer viaje papal en Ankara (Turqu\u00eda), hablando de di\u00e1logo, paz y acci\u00f3n de gracias, refiri\u00e9ndose tanto a la festividad como a su propia gratitud. Unos minutos m\u00e1s tarde, alertar\u00eda sobre la polarizaci\u00f3n y el futuro de la humanidad. Dirigi\u00e9ndose al Presidente, a otros […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2425,"featured_media":55644,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[36,46],"tags":[2319,2524],"class_list":["post-55643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-actualidad","category-mundo","tag-papa-leon-xiv","tag-viaje-papa-leon-xiv"],"yoast_head":"\n\u201cConflict is growing globally\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
In praise of tolerance and religious diversity<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Sons of God.\"<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Defend social ties, family<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
To the Turkish people: value your cultural and religious diversity<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Ecumenical ceremony in Istanbul<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n