World Council of Churches
WCC Statement on Hagia Sophia
24 July 2020
Today, despite the appeals of Christian
leaders around the world and many members of the international
community, including a number of prominent Muslim leaders, the decision
to reconvert the Hagia Sophia from a museum to a mosque was implemented,
with Muslim Friday prayers being heard in the ancient building for the
first time since the 1930s.
In this afternoon’s concluding session of
this week’s meeting of the WCC 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. They expressed their
solidarity with all those churches that are marking this day by the
ringing of church bells as a sign of mourning. We also 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. We continue to pray that
the Turkish authorities will be moved to reconsider this decision, and
to undo this deeply regressive measure.
Geneva 24 July, 2020
Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan SaucaInterim General SecretaryWorld Council of Churches