On July 11, World Council of Churches (WCC) interim general secretary the Rev Prof Dr Ioan Sauca sent a letter to the Turkish president expressing ‘grief and dismay’, at the reclassification of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul from a museum to a mosque.

Souca noted that since 1934, “Hagia Sophia has been a place of openness, encounter and inspiration for people from all nations and religions.”

The letter generated widespread reactions from churches and the media – and also from Muslim leaders.

Sauca met online with H E Judge Mohamad Abdel Salam, general secretary of the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity (HCHF), special adviser of the Grand Imam of al Azhar Cheikh Ahmad al Tayeb, and special adviser of the Muslim Council of Elders.

A subsequent statement from the HCHF reiterated that places of worship must always remain a message of peace and love for all believers: “HCHF calls on everyone to avoid any step that could undermine interfaith dialogue and crosscultural communication, and that could create tensions and hatred among the followers of different religions, confirming the humanity’s need to prioritise the values of co-existence.

“HCHF considers that the places of worship have a very special meaning for believers, stressing that it must stay the same – as a message of peace and love for everyone, and it shouldn’t be used in a way that could contribute to segregation and discrimination, at a time when the world is in real need to respond to religious appealing to achieve human solidarity, and to strengthen the values of coexistence and brotherhood between all humankind.”

Hafid Ouardiri, director of the Muslim Foundation de l’Entre-Connaissance in Geneva, founding member and vice-president of the Interreligious Platform of Geneva, and founding member and vice-president of the Spiritual Appeal of Geneva, wrote in a letter to the WCC: “As a Muslim, like many others around the world, we pray that Hagia Sophia… remains what she has always been since 1934, namely a crossroads of knowledge, of light, wisdom and peace for all humanity.” 

Hagia Sophia was built as a Christian cathedral in the sixth century and was the centre of the Eastern Orthodox church for most of the subsequent millennium. It was first converted to a mosque after the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453, but was closed and turned into a museum by the secular Republic of Turkey in the 1930s.

Among international criticism of the move to redesignate it as a mosque again, the Presidents of Churches Together in England said: “For a long period of time Hagia Sophia has been a unique centre symbolising a co-existence of people of faith. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and, as a place where the rich history of Istanbul is told visually, can be a living example of religious tolerance and respect. The decision to alter the status quo in this way is a powerful, symbolic change that is lamentable and painful for many people of faith the world over.” 

(WCC/Churches Together in England)