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July 28, 2020

Some Christians see Turkey's Hagia Sophia move as attempt to expand Islam

Worshippers attend afternoon prayer at Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque in Istanbul July 26, 2020. Hagia Sophia was built as an Orthodox Christian cathedral and stood as the seat of Eastern Christianity for a thousand years before Ottoman Turks conquered its host city and turned it into a mosque in 1453. In 1934, it was designated as a museum revered as a symbol of Christian and Muslim unity until being transformed into a mosque this July.

AMMAN, Jordan -- Catholics and other Christians are upset by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's conversion of Hagia Sophia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, into a functioning mosque where Muslim Friday prayers were recited recently.

Published in International
July 13, 2020

Pope Francis 'saddened' by Turkish court ruling to turn Hagia Sophia into mosque

Pope Francis leads the Angelus from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square at the Vatican.

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis said he was saddened after a Turkish court ruled to revert the iconic Hagia Sophia museum into a mosque.

Published in Reflections
June 18, 2020

Turkish bishops won't contest plan to turn Hagia Sophia into a mosque

This file photo shows the former Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Istanbul. The Catholic bishops in Turkey pledged not to contest plans to turn the ancient cathedral that now serves as a museum into a Muslim place of worship.

OXFORD, England -- Catholic bishops in Turkey pledged not to contest plans to turn Istanbul's ancient Hagia Sophia cathedral that now serves as a museum into a Muslim place of worship.

Published in International
April 3, 2016

The Story of God shares Morgan Freeman’s questions of faith

Morgan Freeman from “The Story of God,” airing on the National Geographic Channel.



CHICAGO - It all started about seven years ago when actor Morgan Freeman visited the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.

Noticing the mosaics of Jesus inside the museum, Freeman asked his tour guide, who was Muslim, if the tiles had been covered over when the building, originally a Greek Orthodox church, was used as a mosque.

Published in Arts News