The Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Kirill, has issued a special statement in which he calls on the Turkish authorities to preserve the museum status of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, reports Interfax.
“I rely on the prudence of the Turkish government. The preservation of the neutral status of Hagia Sophia, which is one of the greatest masterpieces of Christian culture, a temple-symbol for millions of Christians throughout the world, will serve the further development of ties between the peoples of Russia and Turkey, and the strengthening of interreligious peace and solidarity,” reads the statement of Patriarch Kirill.
The head of the Russian Church noted that Hagia Sophia, built in the 6th century in honour of Christ, means a great deal to all of Orthodoxy and is especially valuable to the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Patriarch acknowledged that relations between Russia and Constantinople have varied throughout history; there have been times that were very difficult, yet “the Russian people, as before, so also now, have perceived and perceive with pain and indignation any attempt to belittle or trample the thousand-year spiritual heritage of the Church of Constantinople.” “The threat to Hagia Sophia is a threat to all Christian civilization and consequently also to our spirituality and history. And to this day, for every Russian Orthodox person, Hagia Sophia is a great Christian shrine. It is the duty of every civilized state to maintain balance, to smooth over contradictions in society, rather than sharpen them, to contribute to the unity of people, not to division,” said the Patriarch.
