—Holy Cross Statement on the Conversion of Hagia Sophia to a Mosque—
Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology strongly protests the
decision of the Turkish government to turn Hagia Sophia into a mosque.
This decision strikes at the core of religious and cultural
sensitivities and identities, and we are opposed to it on moral,
ethical, cultural, and religious-freedom grounds.
The history of
the edifice is well known. Constructed in the sixth century, the site on
which Hagia Sophia now stands was home to two earlier Orthodox
Christian churches, both also dedicated to Hagia Sophia—the Holy Wisdom
of God. After the two earlier churches were destroyed by fire, the
Emperor Justinian built the current church that became the most
important Christian house of worship in the world for nearly a thousand
years. When the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople in 1453, Hagia
Sophia was turned into a mosque by the Sultan.
In 1934, Hagia
Sophia became a museum and eventually a Unesco World Heritage site. For
nearly 90 years, the church has been open to any and all people of faith
or people of no faith at all. Its status as a museum has allowed for
some of the most important discoveries of Byzantine art and iconography.
Beginning in the 1930s, systematic examinations of the building
undertaken by Turkish archaeologists and teams of international art
historians and scholars brought to light the history of the church.
There is no doubt that such discoveries and studies would not have taken
place had not the building been designated as a museum.
Consistent with Turkish practice and Islamic law, Hagia Sophia will
continue to be open to non-Muslim visitors. However, the claim that
Hagia Sophia’s sacred icons will not be covered over seems disingenuous.
As a mosque, Hagia Sophia will have its sixth-century marble floors
covered with prayer rugs, as is the Islamic tradition. These floors are
unique in the eastern Mediterranean world. What will be the fate of the
large, ninth-century mosaic of the Mother of God holding Christ on her
lap, which adorns the central apse of the building? What will be the
fate of the monumental Seraphs that cover the four pendentives under the
main dome? What will be the fate of the mosaic in the lunette over the
main doors that depicts Christ enthroned with an emperor kneeling before
him in supplication? What will be the fate of the thirteenth-century
mosaic in the southeast gallery that preserves perhaps the finest mosaic
depiction of Christ from the entire Byzantine period, along with images
of the Virgin and John the Baptist?
The land of Turkey is the
home of several historically significant cultures. Ancient Hittite
settlements, Hellenistic ruins, Roman temples, Byzantine monuments,
Seljuk and Ottoman buildings, have all been preserved and respected by
the Turkish people and government. However, the same respect shown to
these cultural monuments has begun to fade with respect to Byzantine
churches. Beginning with the conversion of the Hagia Sophia church in
Trebizon in 2013, the Turkish government has systematically turned
Byzantine churches into mosques. More recently, approval was given for
turning the famous Monastery of the Chora (Kariye Camii) into a mosque.
This magnificent church, filled with mosaics and frescos, contains some
of the most outstanding examples of Orthodox Christian iconography
produced during the late Byzantine period (13-15th centuries). The
pattern is clear: the removal of any trace of Christian Byzantium from
Turkey.
The decision to turn Hagia Sophia into a mosque, after
nearly a century as a landmark museum displaying its joint Christian and
Islamic heritage, is a deeply offensive act that is morally
indefensible. It reflects the insensitivity of Turkey’s current
leadership to non-Muslim religious traditions and sends a message to the
world that Turkey is for Muslim Turks. It is a sad day for humanity in
the twenty-first century when old military conquests continue to be
relived and revived centuries later without recognition of the cultures
and monuments those victories tried to destroy.