Lessons from Jerusalem: The Hagia Sophia in Turkey is too disputed to turn back into a mosque
Attempts to treat contested holy sites as exclusive to one religion, as Turkey is doing with the Hagia Sophia, is a recipe for bitterness, suffering.
Here in Jerusalem, we are used to disputed holy places. The whole city is disputed: Three of the world’s major religions all lay claim to its significance. But Jerusalem is not the only place in which this is true.
The government of the Republic of Turkey has taken the decision that the building of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, which has been a museum since 1934, be turned back into a mosque. Prayers are due to resume today, July 24.
This is not an appropriate course of action. A mosque, as the name of the building clearly suggests, was not its first function, or even its longest one. The Church of the Hagia Sophia, or Holy Wisdom, was first built on that site around 350 AD. The current building was built as the cathedral of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople — the senior bishop of the Eastern Church — in 537.
Eleven hundred years after a church was first established on the site, it was converted into a mosque by the Ottomans who invaded Constantinople in 1453. Five hundred years after that, the then president of the secular republic of Turkey turned it into a museum, accessible to all.
A building for all to glorify God
Through all of these changes of status, the shrine of the Hagia Sophia has remained in the heart of the Eastern Orthodox Christian world as a site of Christian worship, sanctified by the blood of martyrs. It is the third church of the Orthodox world after the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
The status of a museum is the best way to treat this contested site. A museum allows access to all on equal terms. It is a symbol of tolerance. Some may come for private spiritual refreshment; others may be inspired by the unique beauty of its buildings; others may be moved by the same imagination and skill that drove its first architects and builders. In every case, whether the visitors be Christians or Muslims, they will be visiting a building intended to inspire awe and to glorify God.
Our experience in Jerusalem is that to attempt to treat contested holy sites in an exclusive manner is simply a recipe for bitterness and suffering. When our holy sites are open to all, there is peace and mutual respect. Even the holy sites that belong particularly to Christians are open to all who wish to visit, and are shared among the various denominations. Our record in the Holy Land is far from perfect, but we have learnt, and continue to learn, from unhappy experience.
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For centuries, the Holy Land has seen religious conflict, as successive identities — Pagan, Jewish, Christian, Muslim — have from time to time sought exclusive dominance. At other times, wiser leaders have sought toleration and coexistence.
A story is told in Jerusalem that when the Caliph Omar conquered the city in 638 AD, he was encouraged to pray in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Knowing that if he did so, his followers would turn it into a mosque, he instead took a stone at the entrance, and threw it. Where it landed, he built his mosque. That mosque still stands, meters away from the Holy Sepulchre. Here we have one of our great examples of peaceful coexistence and respect.
Peace in our troubled world requires compromise, not in our beliefs, but in our accommodation to the beliefs and sensitivities of others. In our contemporary world, our cultures have become multi-ethnic and multi-religious, and we have discovered that we share a common humanity and a common human destiny. Religion must contribute to this reality, and not undermine it.
The Republic of Turkey is a country with great potential to show the world the benefits of our common humanity and our common human destiny. The Orthodox world appeals to the Turkish government: We urge Turkey to live up to that potential, and show the world the value of coexistence between its various communities. Turkey has the power to demonstrate that we can maintain our historic holy spaces for all without distinction as beacons of hope and peace. We therefore call upon the government of Turkey to maintain Hagia Sophia as a museum, open to all.
Theophilos III is the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem where he holds the seat of St. James, and leads the world’s oldest Christian community.
