Archbishop of Athens: The conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque shocked the Orthodox around the world
“The conversion of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople into a mosque in 2020 shocked the Orthodox souls around the world,” said Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece during the presentation of the volume “Hagia Sophia: The temples of the Wisdom of God around the world”.
In his greeting, among other things, the Archbishop noted that “it is certain that the title of the volume pushes everyone to think about the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, the Great Church. Certainly, its conversion to a mosque in 2020 shocked the Orthodox souls around the world.
As it was unfortunately not the only case of conversion of a Temple into a mosque in the Turkish territory, we all felt the problem escalating annoyingly. The publication of this Volume is largely due to this concern and we all unite our protest at this point.”
“The data for thirty-seven temples, from Scotland to China, really sweeten the soul of every reader and stimulate the spirit of the expert researcher.
The fact that some of the Temples may not have been dedicated to the Holy Wisdom of God from the beginning, but were later dedicated, demonstrates the spiritual influence that the honor of the Wisdom of God has on the faithful of all ages,” added Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens.
He added that “however, a sense of responsibility is also created. We must do something, not only on the subject of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople but more generally as Orthodox for our monuments, these places of worship that have hosted for centuries tears and sighs and thoughts, housed all this unfolding of human speech under the blessing of the Creator of the Word and the Wisdom of God.
Let us at least be ready to assist every effort and especially the coordinated efforts of the Greek state in this direction”.
The book has been translated into 9 languages (English, Arabic, Bulgarian, Italian, Ukrainian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian) and translated into another 4 (Armenian, French, German and Finnish), while it is expected to be translated into many more.
Source: orthodoxtimes.com
