"VATICAN CITY Pope Leo XIV is embarking on his first foreign trip, a pilgrimage to Turkey and Lebanon that would be delicate under any circumstances but is even more fraught given Mideast tensions and the media glare that will document history's first American pope on the road. Leo is fulfilling a trip Pope Francis planned to make, to mark an important anniversary with the Orthodox church in Turkey."
"The trip is being covered closely by U.S. media, with all major U.S. networks ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox as well as CNN and the BBC inside Leo's travelling pool, following his speeches, homilies and prayers at a crucial moment in negotiations to end Russia's war in Ukraine and maintain a cease-fire in Gaza. Vatican correspondents plus Lebanese and Turkish media round out the papal press corps of about 80 journalists."
""Anytime the pope travels, it's a big deal," said Natalia Imperatori-Lee, associate professor of theology at Fordham University in New York. But an American pope on his first foreign trip is an even bigger deal, she said, especially in the saturated American media ecosystem where Leo has emerged as something of a foil to the Trump administration and its crackdown on immigrants."
Pope Leo XIV is making his first foreign trip, a pilgrimage to Turkey and Lebanon. The journey is delicate because of Middle East tensions and intense media attention. The visit fulfills a planned trip to mark an important Orthodox anniversary in Turkey. In Lebanon, the pope will seek to bolster the Christian community and press for justice over the 2020 Beirut port blast. He served 12 years as superior of his Augustinian order and spent two decades as a missionary in Peru. Major U.S. and international outlets are in his travelling press pool amid talks over Ukraine and Gaza, with about 80 journalists aboard and many applicants turned away. Coverage is heightened by his engagement with migration and his stance relative to recent U.S. immigration policies.
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