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World Council of Churches
WCC interim general secretary: We continue to pray for reconsideration of Hagia Sophia decision
Photo: Nikos Papachristou.
As Muslim Friday prayers took
place in Hagia Sophia on 24 July for the first time since the 1930s, the
World Council of Churches (WCC) joined member churches and
international organizations, including a number of prominent Muslim
leaders, in urging a reconsideration of the decision to turn the museum
into a mosque.
“In this afternoon’s concluding session of this
week’s meeting of the World Council of Churches executive committee,
members representing different church families and regions joined in
prayer and sorrow with millions of Christians around the world marking
this sad day in history of Christianity and of inter-religious
relations,” said WCC interim general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca.
“We offer our solidarity and accompaniment particularly to all churches
and Christians of the Orthodox family, for whom Hagia Sophia holds a
very special significance, as well as to all Turkish citizens who do not
feel represented in this action by their government.”
Sauca asked that the WCC fellowship and all people
of good will join in praying for the decision to be reversed. “We
continue to pray that the Turkish authorities will be moved to
reconsider this decision, and to undo this deeply regressive measure,”
he said.
