Just shy of seven months into his papacy, Leo XIV, the first pope from the United States, will take off on his first international trip on Thanksgiving Day, traveling to Turkey and Lebanon for a six-day tour.
The choice of the pope’s first foreign destination is always watched closely for clues to his global priorities. Early in his papacy, observers wondered if Leo, who was elected in May, might select the United States, his homeland; Peru, the country where he served for two decades as a missionary and bishop and was naturalized as a citizen; or perhaps Algeria, the birthplace of St. Augustine, the namesake of the religious order that Leo once led.
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