Pope John Paul II

Turkey summoned the Vatican Ambassador in Ankara after Pope Francis described the mass killing of Armenians in WW1 as genocide.

Turkey's Foreign Ministry requested a meeting with the Vatican's envoy in Ankara after the Pope's comments during Sunday's Mass in the Armenian Catholic rite at Peter's Basilica, according to reports of the BBC News.

Mehmet Ali Ağca, the Turk who attempted to assassinate John Paul II, was ordered out of Italy on Dec. 29, two days after he paid a surprise visit to the late pope’s tomb.

The 56-year-old former right-wing extremist had been in custody since Dec. 27, when police realized he had entered the country without the appropriate visa.

The Turkish gunman who attempted to assassinate Pope John Paul II in 1981 has been detained in Italy after he paid a surprise visit to the late pope's tomb in St. Peter's Basilica.

Pope Francis began a lightning visit to European institutions in Strasbourg on Tuesday where he was expected to call for a "tired" Europe hit by economic crises and surging nationalism to reclaim a leadership role.
     

Catholic clergy gathered in central Istanbul on Nov. 24 ahead of Pope Francis’ scheduled visit to Turkey this week.

Speaking at the gathering Istanbul Latin Catholic Church Bishop Monsignor Louis Pelatre stated that the pope's Nov. 28-30 visit will only include the cities of Ankara and Istanbul and he would not be visiting Ä°zmir, as previously reported.

Residents of the small Turkish town of Selçuk, located in the western province of İzmir, will be honored to host the visit of Pope Francis on Nov. 28, the town’s mayor said Nov. 15.

Turkey’s top cleric has said Islamophobia will be high on the agenda of his upcoming meeting with Pope Francis during the latter’s landmark visit to Turkey in late November.

The gun used by a would-be assassin to shoot Pope John Paul II will be on display at a Polish  museum dedicated to the pontiff.

John Paul II, who died in 2005, is to be proclaimed as a saint April 27 at the Vatican and the museum is preparing a new exhibition for the occasion.