On Reopening Hagia Sophia / The EU Perspective

Archon News

A Misguided Campaign that Demeans the Real Survival Struggle of the

Ecumenical Patriarchate which is at the Precipice of Extinction due to the

Systematic Policies of Religious Persecution by the Government of Turkey

Despite claims to the contrary, the European Union has not “pressured the Turkish government to restore St. Sophia Cathedral from a Museum into a Greek Orthodox Church,” nor is there a “requirement of 1,000,000 signatures on a petition before it makes this conversion a prerequisite for Turkey’s accession into the European Union.” At this time we are compelled to release an official letter from the European Union that clarifies their position regarding the re-opening of Hagia Sophia (see below) and to re-release the July 2006 position of the Order of St. Andrew / Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in America that follows.

Many readers may have received an email requesting them to sign a petition supporting the “restoration and reopening” of Hagia Sophia. The email states that this petition would oppose Turkey’s entry into the European Union unless or until the Turkish government “restored” Hagia Sophia (currently a museum) to a church. To my mind, Hagia Sophia is the most magnificent edifice in the world. I believe that its mosaics, particularly the 14th century Deisis with its depiction of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary and St. John the Forerunner, are among the greatest works of art ever conceived! However, this campaign is misguided and lamentable. It demeans the current survival struggle that is unfolding before us regarding the life of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to which the world community and the Orthodox faithful have barely awakened. The call to action to which all women and men of conscience should respond is the call to protect the living institution of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

For the greater part of eighteen centuries, the Ecumenical Patriarchate has preserved and passed on the Christian message. Through countless and unimaginable hardships it has remained as a testament to faith and the enlightenment for all mankind. Over the course of the last several decades, elements in the Turkish government have systematically moved to extinguish the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Not only has an environment of religious intolerance been fomented, certain members of the Turkish state have persecuted the Orthodox clergy and laity, closed down its only theological school and confiscated its properties. The litany of aggressive persecutions is vast and ghastly.

Instead of being beguiled in the comfortable click of an email signature endorsing a petition to “restore and reopen” Hagia Sophia, let us all commit to taking profound action to ensure the perpetual health of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Here are some of the many things you can do:

Make a donation to the Order of Saint Andrew for its Patriarchal Defense Initiatives. These initiatives will support legal actions and seeking governmental intervention against the repression of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the courts and governments of the United States, Europe and the Middle East;

Write President George W. Bush, copying Secretary of State Rice and House Speaker Dennis Hastert [now Nancy Pelosi], and your Senators and Congressmen, your state, city and local representatives stating something like the following: America was established, in part, because of the desire for religious freedom. The First Amendment makes it very clear that freedom of worship is a fundamental human right recognized by the Founding Fathers and the framers of the United States Constitution. Turkey, as an ally of the United States, ought to recognize legally the Ecumenical Patriarchate; return its confiscated properties back to the Mother Church; not interfere in Patriarchal elections or in the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s canonical governance; and immediately reopen Halki Theological School which was forcibly closed in 1971. For Turkey to join the European Union it must act like Europeans and Americans; i.e. recognize fundamental religious freedom and inalienable human rights.

Contact our brothers and sisters of all faith and creeds, whether they be Orthodox, Catholic or Protestant – Muslim or Jewish and ask them to join in a united stance for religious tolerance and freedom of faith.

These are the true calls to action to which we must respond. Let us resolve to ourselves and the world that a true tragedy of our generation – the extinguishment of the Ecumenical Patriarchate – must be averted.