(Vatican City) Pope Francis said he was “very afflicted” Sunday by the conversion decided by Turkey from the former Saint Sophia basilica into a mosque, after the prayer of the Angelus.
Published on 12 July 2020 at 7 a.m. 59
France Media Agency
“My thought goes to Istanbul, I think of Hagia Sophia. I am very distressed, ”said the Argentine pope briefly, coming out of the planned speech.
The Pope's words represent the Vatican's first comment on the Turkish decision.
PHOTO VINCENZO PINTO, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Pope Francis delivered his message from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica
The Osservatore Romano , the daily newspaper of the Vatican , had reported the events the previous day factually, citing the main international reactions, but without commenting.
Major architectural work built in VI e Century by the Byzantines who crowned their emperors there, Hagia Sophia is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and one of the main tourist attractions of Istanbul with some 3.8 million visitors in 2019.
Converted into a mosque after the capture of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453, it was transformed into museum in 1934 by the leader of the young Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal, anxious to “offer it to the humanity ”.
PHOTO OZAN KOSE, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Several countries, notably Russia and Greece, which closely follow the fate of the Byzantine heritage in Turkey, as well as the United States and France, had in particular warned Ankara against the transformation of Hagia Sophia into Muslim place of worship, a measure for which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, from an Islamoconservative party, has campaigned for years.
