Pope Francis claimed on Sunday he was hurt by Turkey’s final decision to make Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia museum a mosque, the most up-to-date religious chief to condemn the shift. “My views go to Istanbul. I assume of Santa Sophia and I am quite pained,” he explained for the duration of his weekly blessing in St. Peter’s Sq..
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has stated the to start with prayers would be held in Hagia Sophia on July 24, right after declaring the historic monument was after again a mosque adhering to a court docket ruling revoking its standing as a museum.
The Planet Council of Church buildings has named on Erdogan to reverse his decision and Patriarch Bartholomew, the Istanbul-dependent non secular chief of the world’s Orthodox Christians, known as it disappointing.
Erdogan mentioned the practically 1,500-calendar year-previous Hagia Sophia, which was when a Christian cathedral, would remain open up to Muslims, Christians and foreigners.
He additional that Turkey experienced exercised its sovereign appropriate in converting it to a mosque and would interpret criticism of the move as an attack on its independence.
Greece has condemned the shift and UNESCO said its Planet Heritage Committee would evaluation Hagia Sophia’s position and that Turkey’s selection lifted inquiries about the affect on its common worth as a site of value transcending borders and generations.
