Archbishop Elpidophoros of America: Turkey’s Hagia Sophia ruling ‘the worst example of religious chauvinism’
File photo: Archbishop Elpidophoros of America expressed his deep concern over Turkey’s decision. Photo: Nikos Maginas/ Ecumenical Patriarchate
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
Archbishop Elpidophoros of America expressed his deep concern over Turkey’s decision to nullify a 1934 decree by then leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk which had turned Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia into a museum, and have the now UNESCO-protected monument become a mosque after 85 years.
On Twitter, the Archbishop wrote, in two separate tweets: “We hope that the terrible news about Hagia Sophia does not signal a deterioration of the stand of the Turkish government toward the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the other Christian minorities of Turkey, and a negative turn from respect for religious freedom. The re-conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque is the worst example of religious chauvinism. By shuttering Hagia Sophia as a monument, Turkey has shut the window that Ataturk opened to the world.”
Source: ANA – MPA
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