On Friday, July 10, Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the decision to convert Hagia Sophia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site revered by Muslims and Christians alike, from a museum to a mosque. Christian churches and leaders, particularly those of Orthodox faiths, were quick to denounce the move and appeal to the Turkish government for a reversal.
The World Council of Churches (WCC), a community of churches seeking unity in the Christian faith, whose members include over 350 churches across from across the globe, expressed hope that Hagia Sophia would be restored to the “emblematic unifying role” it has served since 1934. The WCC’s member churches include mainline Protestant denominations such as the United Methodist Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, The Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and the United Church of Christ.
Rev. Prof. Dr. Ioan Sauca, the interim head of the WCC and the first Orthodox Christian to hold the role (Sauca belongs to the Orthodox Church in Romania), expressed “grief and dismay” on behalf of the WCC in a public letter sent to President Erdogan. Not mincing words, he stated that “By deciding to convert the Hagia Sophia back to a mosque you have reversed that positive sign of Turkey’s openness and changed it to a sign of exclusion and division.”
Elizabeth Eaton, Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) wrote, “As a church, we join with our Christian family and our Muslim neighbors in calling for the Hagia Sophia to remain a museum. Turning it back into a mosque is not only a return to divisive history but an erasure of a living religious and spiritual expression.”
In a recent service at the Vatican, Pope Francis briefly shared his own reaction: “My thoughts go to Istanbul. I think of Santa Sophia and I am very pained.”
The leader of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Archbishop Elpidophoros, implored believers to take action and to speak to Christian neighbors and friends, as well as to their elected leaders, who he hopes will act “to protest by every means possible.” He added that the Hagia Sophia “should be allowed to retain its status quo as a place of encounter for Christians and Muslims, and for all people who desire to behold how faith in God can transform the world.”
The massive, breathtaking cathedral was built in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) in the 6th century during the reign of Byzantine emperor Justinian I. It served as the center of the Eastern Orthodox Church for a millennium until 1453, when Sultan Mehmed II converted it to a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople. In 1935, President Kemal Atatürk, the father of modern secular Turkey, officially re-opened it as a museum after nearly 500 years of Muslim worship there.
Erdogan’s decision to reclassify Hagia Sophia as a mosque came just hours after Turkey’s high administrative court annulled the 1934 decision that turned the site into a museum. Within the country, the move is a highly popular one with the president’s nationalist and conservative base, who have long wanted to hold prayers at Hagia Sophia, but only raises tensions with Turks who desire a more secular, pluralist state.
Responding to the immediate domestic and international criticism, Erdogan argued against the idea that this move would sow division among people of different faiths or of no faith, saying: “Like all of our other mosques, the doors of Hagia Sophia will be open to all, locals or foreigners, Muslims and non-Muslims.”
Other Turkish officials are also trying to assuage fears and reframe the decision. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu argued that the use of Hagia Sophia as a mosque does not diminish the site’s broad cultural value: “We have to protect our ancestors’ heritage. The function can be this way or that way – it does not matter.” Hami Aksoy, a foreign ministry spokesman, said that “Hagia Sophia will continue to embrace everyone with its new status, preserving the common cultural heritage of humanity.”
The true nature of the changes at Hagia Sophia will take time to unfold and be understood, but for now we can hope the Turkish government keeps its promises and maintains the Christian elements of the site’s rich heritage. We can also encourage our elected leaders to keep Turkey accountable to these assurances of openness and diversity. While it is impossible to know whether this or future Turkish regimes will make Hagia Sophia a museum again, we can all pray that even if it remains a mosque, Hagia Sophia will continue to draw people closer to the one true God for many years to come.
Comment by David on July 18, 2020 at 6:21 am
The real concern will be what will happen to the historic pictorial mosaics. Figurative representations are forbidden in mosques. At one point, these were plastered over and not revealed until the 1930s. In fairness, Christians damaged these in the iconoclast period, but they were eventually replaced. It is thought the original church had only geometric, crosses, and plant motifs when first built.
Comment by Dan Moran on July 20, 2020 at 10:24 am
So far the Turkish government is promising to preserve them. According to The Telegraph, “Christian icons in Istanbul’s ancient Hagia Sophia will be covered by curtains or lasers during times of Muslim prayer” and “The mosaics would be uncovered and be open to all visitors at other times, and admission would be free of charge.”
Let’s hope they keep these promises.