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Pope Leo XIV set off for Turkey Thursday for the first overseas trip of his papacy, which includes a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and comes amid acute tensions in the region.The trip, which includes a second leg to Lebanon, begins in the Turkish capital Ankara, where the first American pope is expected to arrive shortly after midday.There, he will address authorities, civil society and the diplomatic corps before heading to Istanbul in the early evening.Leo’s first steps abroad will be scrutinised by the world’s media, with more than 80 journalists accompanying him on his papal plane.Since his election in May as the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, the pope has shown himself to be adept at handling the media, talking to reporters weekly.In a sign of his desire to reach a wide audience, Leo will deliver all his speeches during the trip in English, his native language, rather than the Italian he usually uses.His first address in Turkey is expected to focus on dialogue with Islam in a country where Christians account for only 0.1 percent of the 86 million inhabitants — most of them Sunni Muslims.On the doorstep of a conflict-ridden Middle East, the pope who upon his election called for “unarmed and disarming” peace, is expected to address the crises troubling the region.But between the colonnades of Ankara’s monumental presidential palace, Leo will have to tread delicately if he plans to address the sensitive issue of human rights, a wave of arrests of Erdogan opponents, or the status of Turkey’s Christians, who continue to struggle against inequality and exclusion.Despite the rise of religious nationalism in Turkey and the conversion of the Hagia Sophia — a church for more than 1,000 years — from a museum into a mosque in 2020, the Vatican seeks to maintain a dialogue with Ankara, which is considered a key player for peace efforts in the region.- ‘Promoting unity’ -The Holy See also acknowledges Turkey’s efforts in taking in more than 2.5 million mostly Syrian refugees, according to authorities.On the subject of refugees and migrants, Leo has followed in the footsteps of his predecessor Francis, most recently criticising the “extremely disrespectful” treatment of migrants by the government of US President Donald Trump.In Ankara, Leo will also pay his respects on Thursday at the mausoleum dedicated to the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, a national sanctuary symbolising the secular republic.Friday’s calendar will take on a more religious aspect with the celebration in Iznik of the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea, a gathering of bishops in the year 325 that resulted in a creed, or statement of faith, still central to Christianity.Invited by the Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, Leo will take part in a prayer on the shores of Lake Iznik that was initially to include former Pope Francis, who died in April.”Bartholomew and I have already met several times, and I think this will be an exceptional opportunity to promote unity among all Christians,” Leo told journalists late Tuesday.Catholics and Orthodox Christians have been divided since a schism in 1054.Catholics recognise the universal authority of the pope as the head of the Church, while Orthodox Christians are organised into local Churches with their own leaders.Leo’s trip comes as the Orthodox world appears even more fragmented than ever, with the war in Ukraine accelerating the split between the Moscow and Constantinople patriarchates.The pope is the fifth pontiff to visit Turkey, after Paul VI in 1967, John Paul II in 1979, Benedict XVI in 2006 and Francis in 2014.On Sunday, Leo will head to religiously diverse Lebanon, a nation that has been crushed by a devastating economic and political crisis since 2019 and which has been the target of repeated bombings by Israel in recent days, despite a ceasefire.

With no backpack, books or uniform, 11-year-old Layan Haji navigates the ruins of Gaza City and heads to a makeshift classroom after two years of war halted her education.But the school is not what she is used to. Painted walls and students’ artwork no longer adorn the walls and hallways — instead, tents set up in a battered building serve as their temporary classrooms. “I walk for half an hour at least. The streets are devastated, full of ruins… It is difficult and sad,” Haji said, wearing a torn shirt and patched trousers.But “I am happy to return to my studies,” added the young girl, who already dreams of becoming a doctor.Haji is one of 900 students who are going to the Al-Louloua al-Qatami school, one of a number of these establishments that have opened their doors in a bid to allow children to resume their schooling for the first time since the Israel-Hamas war broke out.”We don’t have books or notebooks. The libraries are bombed and destroyed,” said Haji, who lives in a displacement camp in the Tal al-Hawa area in Gaza City.”There is nothing left,” she added.A month after a fragile ceasefire took effect, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) and Gaza’s education ministry announced that children had gradually begun returning to schools in areas not under Israeli military control.- ‘Heavy labour’ -Sixteen-year-old Said Sheldan said he was full of joy at being able to attend school now that the war has stopped.But “I don’t have books, notebooks, pens or a bag. There are no chairs, electricity or water — not even streets,” he said. But before going to the classroom, Sheldan has much more basic needs to attend to.”Every morning, I have to collect water and wait in line for bread,” said Sheldan, whose family has been displaced “10 times” and “no longer have a home”.Headmaster Iman al-Hinawi, 50, said the school hopes to provide books and other supplies soon and for free.But she warned that the war has forced Gaza’s children to perform “heavy labour” to support their families, especially in cases where the breadwinner has been killed.”They collect firewood, fetch water and stand in line for food” across the territory where the UN previously declared famine.AFP correspondents have witnessed scenes where countless children, clutching plastic buckets, dented pans or even just plates, cry and shout as they jostle through massive crowds to collect food for their families.In an effort to address the psychological distress the children have endured, Hinawi said the school has adopted new learning methods through playing.Young girls compete by dancing to solve math equations and other children act out comedic scenes to recite poems on the curriculum.But Faisal al-Qasas, in charge of the Al-Louloua al-Qatami school, said the children are constantly preoccupied by the queues for bread and water.The school, having launched two shifts for 900 children, now uses “extracurricular activities to address the students’ mental health” and help them resume their studies.- A critical moment -According to a UN assessment, 97 percent of Gaza’s schools sustained some level of damage, including from “direct hits”, with most of them needing full reconstruction or major rehabilitation.Israeli strikes have killed many Palestinians sheltering in schools, with Israel alleging that Hamas fighters hide in such establishments.With schools also serving as displacement shelters, UNRWA has recently opened “temporary learning spaces”.Last month, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said that more than 25,000 children have joined these new spaces, and some 300,000 would follow online classes.But that still falls short of the education ministry’s estimates of more than 758,000 students in the strip.In the Al-Mawasi area in southern Gaza, local initiatives, some of which receive international support, are hoping to bring children back to school.Qatar’s Education Above All Foundation has launched the “Rebuilding Hope for Gaza” programme, aimed at supporting more than 100,000 students.The programme includes distributing school supplies, ensuring access to the internet and electricity, and providing psychological support.But even with that support, one such school in the Al-Mawasi area can only offer four subjects: Arabic, English, maths and science. Hazem Abu Habib, from an initiative backed by the foundation, said “we aim to help as many students as possible resume their education, even if it’s just with basic courses”.Before the war, Gaza was “completely free of illiteracy”, he said.But now “education is facing its most critical period”.