Why do popes make visits to Islamic mosques, courting controversy and criticism by taking part in events at holy sites of another religion?
For more than a quarter-century, popes have periodically visited Islamic mosques as part of official voyages and papal visits.
The tradition began with Pope John Paul II, who in 2001 became the first pope in history known to have entered a mosque when he visited the Great Mosque of Damascus in the capital of Syria.
The subsequent Popes Benedict XVI, Francis, and Leo XIV have all paid visits to mosques to hold ecumenical dialogues and host diplomatic meetings.
Yet the practice is not without some controversy. Indeed, Leo XIVʼs visit to the Great Mosque of Algiers on April 13 drew some backlash on social media by critics incredulous over the leader of the Catholic Church visiting a major Islamic holy site. (This was Leoʼs second visit to a mosque; he also visited the famed “Blue Mosque” in Istanbul in late 2025.)
So why do popes make visits to mosques, courting controversy and criticism for making a point to go to holy sites of another religion?
‘We can live together in peace’
Pope Leo XIV himself addressed criticism directed toward him on April 15 on board the papal plane after leaving Algiers bound for Cameroon.
“I think the visit to the mosque was significant [and showed] that although we have different beliefs, we have different ways of worshipping, we have different ways of living, we can [still] live together in peace,” the Holy Father said.
“I think that to promote that kind of image is something which the world needs to hear today,” he said, arguing that such visits show that “together we can continue to offer in our witness as we continue on this apostolic voyage.”
Gabriel Said Reynolds, a theology professor at the University of Notre Dame who has written multiple works on the Quran and its relationship to Christianity, told EWTN News that interpreting papal visits to mosques should include an understanding of “the Churchʼs vision of God in the world.”
“What is God’s relationship to the world? That’s been important to all of the recent popes,” he said.
Reynolds pointed out that an Islamic mosque is “fundamentally different from a church.”
“A Catholic church is a sort of temple in which God is present in the tabernacle — body, blood, soul, and divinity,” he said. “It’s a sacred space in the deepest sense of the word.”
“What Muslims would say of a mosque is fundamentally different,” he said. “A mosque is for communal prayer, but the communal prayer that takes place in a mosque is no different than the ritual prayer that’s more often done at home.”
He likened a mosque to a “gathering place” with just a few features that set it apart as a distinct site — such as a pulpit for occasional sermons and an alcove that denotes the direction of Mecca to which Muslims orient themselves during prayer.
Reynolds said popes visit mosques in no small part as a “pastoral concern” for Christians living in majority-Muslim countries, such as Algeria.
“Algerian society is thoroughly Islamic,” he said. “It’s not generally marked by notions of rights and responsibilities and citizenship in the same way the U.S. is. Cultivating positive relationships with Muslim leaders is absolutely essential for Christians.”
Reynolds said the Churchʼs view about human dignity has “fundamental implications with its relationship toward non-Christians.” He pointed out, for instance, that the pope “could show up at an atheist convention and meet the people there and have dialogue with them.”
“John 3:16 says God loves the world,” he said. “It’s not that God loves believers and doesn’t love the unbelievers. All people are children of God, according to Catholic teaching.”
The declaration Nostra Aetate, meanwhile — issued by the Second Vatican Council in 1965 to address Catholicismʼs relationship with non-Christians — affirmed that the Church “regards [Muslims] with esteem.”
The document points out that although Muslims “do not acknowledge Jesus as God,” they still “adore the one God” and “revere [Jesus] as a prophet” while giving honor to the Virgin Mother as well.
The Second Vatican Council acknowledged that “in the course of centuries not a few quarrels and hostilities have arisen” between Christians and Muslims, but the document “urge[d] all to forget the past and to work sincerely for mutual understanding.”
It further called on religious adherents to “preserve as well as to promote together for the benefit of all mankind social justice and moral welfare, as well as peace and freedom.”
