ROME: After Pope Francis spoke of being “very saddened” by the conversion of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul from a museum into a mosque, European Catholic bishops expressed dismay at the Turkish decision.
“Converting Hagia Sophia into a mosque distances Turkey from Europe, and it is a blow to the Orthodox Church and to interreligious dialogue,” Manuel Barrios Prieto, general secretary of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (COMECE), told Arab News.
The World Council of Churches, which counts 350 churches as members, wrote a letter to Turkey’s president calling for the decision to be reversed.
In a press statement, COMECE said the decision regarding Hagia Sophia “is a blow to interreligious dialogue,” a field where, according to a 2019 European Commission report, Turkey has “a serious problem,” particularly in relation to hate speech and threats directed against national, ethnic and religious minorities.
The EU Commission report said such hate speech in the media and by public officials had continued despite “discussions between the Government and representatives of minorities.”
It added that continued “attacks or acts of vandalism” against minority places of worship “need to be investigated,” and that “full respect for and protection of language, religion, culture and fundamental rights in accordance with European standards have yet to be fully achieved.”
The Conference of the Catholic Bishops of Turkey (CET) also denounced the decision regarding the 1,500-year-old Byzantine building.
“Although we would wish Hagia Sophia to retain its character as a museum, we are a church deprived of juridical status, so we cannot give any advice on this country’s internal questions,” the CET said in a statement sent to the Catholic News Service.
The UNESCO-listed Hagia Sophia was completed in 537 AD by Byzantine Emperor Justinian, and for centuries served as one of the world’s most important centers of Christianity.
The cathedral was converted into an imperial mosque about 550 years ago after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople (present-day Istanbul), and in 1934 became a museum on the orders of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of the Turkish Republic.
European bishops slam Hagia Sophia conversion
https://arab.news/9f6zf
European bishops slam Hagia Sophia conversion
- The World Council of Churches wrote a letter to Turkey’s president calling for the decision to be reversed
- The UNESCO-listed Hagia Sophia was completed in 537 AD by Byzantine Emperor Justinian
No sign Iran’s nuclear sites were hit, IAEA says, but Iran alleges one was
VIENNA: The UN nuclear watchdog has no indication Israeli and US attacks on Iran have hit any nuclear facilities, its chief Rafael Grossi told the agency’s Board of Governors on Monday, moments before Iran’s envoy said one was targeted a day earlier.
Iran’s nuclear program has been among the reasons Israel and the US have given for the attacks, alleging Iran was getting too close to being able to eventually make an atom bomb.
At the same time, what remains of Iran’s atomic facilities after the two militaries attacked them in June appears to have been largely spared in this campaign so far.
“We have no indication that any of the nuclear installations ... have been damaged or hit,” International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said in a statement to a meeting of his agency’s 35-nation Board of Governors.
What that assessment was based on is unclear, since he also said his agency had not been able to reach its counterparts in Iran. Tehran has not let the IAEA return to its bombed facilities since they were attacked in June.
“Efforts to contact the Iranian nuclear regulatory authorities ... continue, with no response so far. We hope this indispensable channel of communication can be re-established as soon as possible,” he said.
Moments later, Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA, Reza Najafi, told reporters outside the closed-door meeting that the sprawling nuclear complex at Natanz had been attacked.
Natanz housed two uranium-enrichment plants that were attacked in June — an above-ground one that the IAEA says was destroyed and an underground one that was at least badly damaged, among other facilities.
“Again they attacked Iran’s peaceful, safeguarded nuclear facilities yesterday,” Najafi said. Asked by Reuters which facilities were hit, he replied: “Natanz” and left.
