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His Beatitude Metropolitan Epiphaniy expressed support for the position of the Ecumenical Patriarch on the issue of Hagia Sophia and called to pray for the Mother Church
On July 5, 2020, during the sermon at St. Michael’s Cathedral in
Kyiv, His Beatitude Metropolitan Epiphaniy, the Primate of the Orthodox
Church of Ukraine, expressed support for the position of the Ecumenical
Patriarch on the issue of Hagia Sophia and called to pray for the Mother
Church.
“Today I would like to urge everyone to offer a prayer for our Mother
Church of Constantinople and personally for the Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew,” His Beatitude said. “Because many of you probably know
that in Turkey there is a debate about the possibility of changing the
status of Hagia Sophia, which for almost a century is open to people of
all views and faiths as a place of becoming familiar with sacred history
and beauty, acting as a secular museum. This status was defined by the
founder of the Republic of Turkey and its first President, Atatürk, and
we share the views and concerns of His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew on the possible implications of revising this decision.”
The Primate emphasized the special role of the cathedral in the
history of Christianity adoption in Rus’-Ukraine during the reign of St.
Prince Volodymyr of Kyiv: “St. Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople is a
special place for the Ukrainian people, because, according to the
chronicle, it was the exact place, where the ambassadors of our Grand
Prince Volodymyr during the service felt the divine presence”. The
Metropolitan also quoted an excerpt from the chronicle with their
testimony: “We did not know, whether we were in heaven or on earth.
Because there is no such spectacle or such beauty on earth – we can’t
even say [about it] “.
“So may the Lord direct everything for the greater good, so that
Hagia Sophia may continue to serve love, peace and good for all people,
no matter what religion or nation they belong to,” the Primate of the
OCU concluded.
