Elpidophoros: ‘We mourn the captivity’ of Hagia Sophia
Archbishop Elpidophoros of America lamented the conversion of Istanbul’s iconic Hagia Sophia into a mosque on Friday, saying that the 1,500-year-old monument “was seized without cause.”
“While we mourn the captivity of the Great Church, we hold out hope for a return to at least the status quo ante, when the museum context could still reveal the glories of Byzantium that are now hidden by an alien purpose,” Elpidophoros said in a archiepiscopal encyclical issued to mark two years since the UNESCO World Heritage site opened for worship as a mosque.
“Today, our precious Hagia Sophia, which was seized without cause, still inspires the souls of those who seek the unalloyed Faith of the Orthodox,” he added.
Originally built in the 6th century as an Orthodox Christian cathedral, it was turned into a mosque following the Ottoman conquest of Istanbul – then Constantinople – in 1453.
It then became a museum after the formation of modern secular Turkey in 1923, but a top court ruled in July 2020 that the change was illegal. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan signed a presidential decree that opened the way for its use as a mosque.
Since then, the monument has suffered from repeated acts of vandalism.
