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Pope Francis Prays for Turkey After Deadly Istanbul Bombing

The explosion on Istanbul’s Istiklal Avenue, a popular shopping street, on Nov. 13 killed six people and led around 80 others to be hospitalized.

(photo: Vatican Media / VM)
Courtney Mares/CNA Vatican

Pope Francis has expressed his condolences for the victims of a deadly bombing on a busy pedestrian street in Istanbul over the weekend.

The Vatican published a message on Nov. 15 that expressed the Pope’s spiritual closeness to the injured and those who mourn the loss of their loved ones who died in the explosion in Turkey’s capital.

“His Holiness prays that no act of violence will discourage the efforts of the people of Türkiye to build a society based on the values of fraternity, justice and peace,” it said.

The explosion on Istanbul’s Istiklal Avenue, a popular shopping street, on Nov. 13 killed six people and led around 80 others to be hospitalized, according to the Associated Press. Among the victims were two girls, ages 9 and 15. Funerals were held for the victims on Monday.

Turkish police have said that Ahlam Albashir, a Syrian woman with links to Kurdish militants, confessed to planting the bomb while in police custody. A total of 50 suspects have been apprehended in connection with the bombing.

The papal message was addressed to Archbishop Marek Solczyński, the apostolic nuncio in Turkey, and signed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State.

President Recep Erdogan in 2020 converted the former Byzantine church, the Hagia Sophia, back into a mosque.

How Difficult Is It to Be a Christian in Turkey? What You Need to Know

Several hundred thousand Christians reside there. About 25,000 of those are Roman Catholics, many of them migrants from Africa and the Philippines, according to a 2022 report by the U.S. State Department. Turkey’s status as a place difficult to be Christian has long roots, despite the country being one of the original places where Christianity flourished.

Jonah McKeown/CNA World
Palestinian Christians celebrate Easter Sunday Mass at Holy Family Church in Gaza City on March 31, amid the ongoing battles Israel and the Hamas militant group.

People Explain ‘Why I Go to Mass’

‘Why go to Mass on Sundays? It is not enough to answer that it is a precept of the Church. … We Christians need to participate in Sunday Mass because only with the grace of Jesus, with his living presence in us and among us, can we put into practice his commandment, and thus be his credible witnesses.’ —Pope Francis

Patti Maguire Armstrong Blogs
Palestinian Christians celebrate Easter Sunday Mass at Holy Family Church in Gaza City on March 31, amid the ongoing battles Israel and the Hamas militant group.

People Explain ‘Why I Go to Mass’

‘Why go to Mass on Sundays? It is not enough to answer that it is a precept of the Church. … We Christians need to participate in Sunday Mass because only with the grace of Jesus, with his living presence in us and among us, can we put into practice his commandment, and thus be his credible witnesses.’ —Pope Francis

Patti Maguire Armstrong Blogs

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