Restore St. Sophia as a Christian Church

[PhiliptheUniterchaeronea]

One of the dudes in Australia brought this up and if it is legit, the world can start restoring its heritage. For those that don't know, Agia Sophia is the cathedral in Constandinople. THe Turks turned it into a mosque and now it is a museum. I will refrain about commenting on this disgrace. Please check it out and see if you are willingf to sign it.

http://www.hagiasophiablog.com/

[PhiliptheUniterchaeronea]

I believe in this a great ideal. If there are any foreigners here who are Catholics I'll put it into perspective. It would be like Italy having been invaded by Muslim North Africa hundreds of years ago and Rome still being occupied today. Furthermore, Italians would have been murdered and pushed out over the centuries and St. Peter's at Vatican City would have been converted into a Mosque, and now as a museum. Very simplified version, but effective none the less. ANy Muslims reading our thread can use a similar analogy about Mecca. Wouldn't they be happy if the British or Americans had turned it into a CHurch (or more realistaically a Disneyland ). They would have been furious and I wouldn't have blamed them.

Anyway, back to this version of reality. Did anyone here sign the petition? ANyone here with any thoughts on the matter?

[Amyntas]

I did sign. I also wrote as a comment that the only way to make that possible is the EU....the turks are so fanatic about joining the EU that they would probably do anything to realize that.....

[PhiliptheUniterchaeronea]

I'm just curious how many of us signed this petition?

[PhiliptheUniterchaeronea]

No matter what your faith or denomiation, this petition has to be signed for moral reasons. Bottom line is, it should be a Cathedral of the Orthodox faith!!!!!!!!! A symbol for all Christians, alink to our past, all of us!!!!!

[The Blood of Dorus]

I signed the petition last year and know of many others who have done the same.

[Euklid]

However an initiative must be taken.

For those who are not grounded down to reality, here is the case of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

"The modern Turkish state still requires the Patriarch to be a Turkish citizen (though nearly all Orthodox now live outside the Turkish republic) but allows the Standing Synod of Metropolitan Bishops to elect the Patriarch.[2] Since the establishment of modern Turkey, therefore, the position of the Oecumenical Patriarch has been filled by ethnic Greeks, who must be Turkish citizens by birth.
Human rights groups, EU governments, and the U.S. government, have long protested against conditions placed by the government of Turkey on the Oecumenical Patriarch. For example, the Oecumenical status accorded him within Eastern Orthodoxy, and recognized by the Ottoman governments, has on occasion been a source of controversy within the Republic of Turkey, which under its laws regarding religious minorities officially recognizes him as only the "Patriarch of Fener" (Fener is the district in Istanbul where his headquarters are located). Expropriation of Church property and the closing of the Orthodox Theological School of Halki are also cited by human rights groups. However in 2004 Patriarch Bartholomew succeeded, after eighty years, to alter the composition of the twelve-member Standing Synod of Metropolitan Bishops in Constantinople so that it can include six bishops from outside Turkey. He has also been convening bienially in Constantinople convocations of all bishops in his jurisdiction."


So, as you can see a lot of effort has been made for less important issues regarding the Christian Matter of Konstantinoupoli.

Turkey is near on re-opening the Theological School of Halki.
Tayip Erdogan(Turkey's Prime Minister) said that he will do so, when the Greek governmemt decids to establish a Mosque in the centre of Athens.


P.S.: The EU card does not frighten Turkey any more, as much as it used to at the least.

[akritas]

Read this intresting link

http://www.kairatos.com.gr/agiasofia.htm

Speaks for Christian litergy at the 1919!!!Only in Greek

[Tsontos]

its not realistic. The Turks wont budge on a single issue to increase their EU chances. Karamanlis and Simitis made sure of that with their shocking foreign policy.

Reasons why I see it as pointless

1) Agia sofia was recently opened for muslim worship by Erdogan, the islamist pm of turkey

2) If agia sofia was made into a church it would be bombed by turkey's growing islamist movement. think about it from a turk's point of view. They see agia sofia (or aya sofya mosque as they call it) and they see it as turkish by right of conquest, and the same about istanbul. They would see it as extremely insulting and an act of unbeleivable betrayal by their government. It would be more unpopular than opening the ports to cyprus, accepting 12mile limit in the aegean etc.

2) Even if it was to be made into a church, im damned if that would be enough to let them in the EU. Cyprus, the Aegean are far more important issues. As far as Im concerned Turkey will always be the enemy of Greece, with our interests clashing.


Its a nice idea but Agia Sofia will only become a church if the Greek army some how found itself surrounding the city. just my two cents

[pankration]

There is a letter addressing this issue on the last page of the online magazine www.fightingbest.com. It has a couple of links to sites that support re-establishing Hagia Sofia as a church.