WelCom August 2020
Pope Francis has expressed his sadness at the decision of Mr Erdogan, President of Turkey, to re-convert Hagia Sophia from a museum to a mosque again.
The Pope’s comments came after a call from the World Council of Churches for Mr Erdogan to reverse his decision, which they said would sow division. The UNESCO World Heritage site in Istanbul has been a museum since 1934.
Mr Erdogan announced his decision following a court ruling which annulled the Hagia Sophia’s museum status.
The Hagia Sophia was built 1,500 years ago as an Orthodox Christian cathedral, but was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest in 1453. It was converted to a museum on the orders of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founding father of modern, secular Turkey. Since then religious services have been banned at the site.
WelCom November 2020, Issue 388
WelCom November 2020 is in parishes and schools as our monthly printed newspaper.
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