Pope ‘pained’ by Hagia Sophia

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis said he is “deeply pained” over the decision by Turkey to change the status of Hagia Sophia — which was originally built in Istanbul as a Christian cathedral — from a museum to a mosque.

In a very brief, improvised remark on July 12, Francis, speaking from his studio window overlooking St. Peter’s Square, noted that the Catholic Church marked that Sunday as International Day of the Sea. “And the sea brings me a little far away with my thought: to Istanbul,” the pontiff said. “I am thinking of St. Sophia and I am deeply pained.”

Francis said no more but was clearly referring to the move by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to formally convert the monumental building back into a mosque. The colossal Santa Sophia cathedral was turned into a mosque after the Ottomans conquered the city in 1453. The Turkish secular government in 1934 decided to make it a museum.

The pope, who heads the Roman Catholic church, is adding his voice to strong objections a day earlier by the head of the Geneva-based World Council of Churches. That organization described its “grief and dismay” in noting that Hagia Sophia has been “a place of openness, encounter and inspiration for people from all nations.” The council’s membership comprises Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican churches.

Erdogan declared the monument open for Muslim worship after a high court annulled the 1934 government decision.

Turkey’s foreign minister on Tuesday chided the European Union over its condemnation of a Turkish decision to convert Istanbul’s iconic Hagia Sophia from a museum to a mosque, saying the matter is an issue of national sovereignty.

Last week, Turkey said the former cathedral-turned-mosque would open for Muslim worship as of July 24.

Officials from Turkey’s religious affairs authority, said the landmark structure can remain open to visitors outside of prayer hours, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

The Christian depictions inside are no obstacle to Muslim prayers, said the officials who are preparing the site for Muslim worship. They added however, that the figures would need to be covered with curtains or through other means during the prayers, in line with Islamic traditions that prohibit such representations.

Ozan Kose / AFP via Getty Images Hagia Sophia rises majestically above Istanbul. Originally a Christian cathedral, it was a mosque from 1454 until 1934, when it became a museum. Beginning July 24, it will revert to being a mosque, with its Christian images concealed during prayer times.