Imam Refaey El Shahat Abdrabbou invites Pope Leo to visit Europe’s largest mosque. The hope is that such a meeting at the mosque, with a maximum capacity of 12,000 worshippers, can inspire greater unity between Muslims and Christians. The invitation takes place days before Pope Leo’s first trip outside of Italy to Türkiye and Lebanon.
The apostolic journey, scheduled for November 27 to December 2, marks the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. Both countries offer a significant opportunity to advance interreligious dialogue: Türkiye’s population is over 99% Muslim (with most of the remainder Christian or belonging to other faiths), while Lebanon is a diverse, multicultural society where Muslims make up about 68% of the population and Christians roughly 28–33%, alongside several smaller religious minorities.
Imam Refaey’s invitation could pave the way for the first-ever visit by a pope to the Grand Mosque of Rome.
