A decision by Turkish authorities to re-convert the Byzantine Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Saviour in Chora into a mosque is “completely reprehensible,” the Greek Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
After Hagia Sophia, Turkish authorities issued a new presidential decree on Friday morning to re-convert the Byzantine Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Saviour in Chora into a mosque.
Archbishop Elpidophoros of America delivered a benediction on the third day of the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, urging listeners to “fight against injustice, inequality and hatred.”
The Greek orthodox Church will fully implement the social distancing and safety rules announced by the government to stem the spread of the coronavirus, Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Ieronymos said on Tuesday.
US Ambassador to Turkey, David Satterfield, on Thursday visited on Thursday the Chapel of the Holy Trinity at Halki, where the Theological School is located.
A church service will be conducted on the holiday of the Dormition (or the Assumption) of the Virgin Mary (August 15) at the Monastery of Panagia Soumela in Turkey, which has reopened after five years of renovations, the Ecumenical Patriarch announced on Wednesday.
The Holy Synod, the ruling body of the Greek Orthodox Church, said on Tuesday it had renewed its call to churches and monasteries to follow the strict guidelines issued by the government to prevent the spread of the coronavirus ahead of two major religious holidays.
A 74-year-old woman was asked to leave a religious service near Kozani, in northern Greece, for wearing a face mask for coronavirus protection, according to reports on Monday.
US President Donald Trump expressed his “strong dissatisfaction” with a decision by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to reconvert Hagia Sophia into a mosque, state-run news agency ANA reported.
Greece’s Archbishop Ieronymos described July 24, when Istanbul’s iconic Hagia Sophia will open for worship as a mosque, as a “day of mourning” for Christians and invited the faithful to a service on the same day in Athens’ Cathedral.
Archbishop Elpidophoros of America on Friday expressed his gratitude for a call from Democratic US presidential candidate Joe Biden “expressing his support of our Ecumenical Patriarchate, and his solidarity with our cause to maintain the status quo for Hagia Sophia.”
Archbishop Elpidophoros of America and the Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, said on Wednesday they “lament and decry” the decision of the Turkish government to change the status of Hagia Sophia and re-convert it into a mosque.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not a man who listens to others. He does what he thinks is right, either because that is what his heart and mind dictate, or because it serves him politically.
President Tayyip Erdogan declared Istanbul's Hagia Sophia open to Muslim prayer as a mosque on Friday after a top court ruled that the ancient building's conversion to a museum by modern Turkey's founding statesman was illegal.
The Russian Orthodox Church on Friday said it regretted that a Turkish court did not take its concerns into account when ruling that Istanbul's Hagia Sophia being a museum was unlawful, the TASS news agency reported.
The relationship between the Church and state will be discussed during a meeting of a special committee for the study and resolution of issues of concern to the Church of Greece.
In a stern message on Tuesday, the Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios said any conversion of the former Orthodox cathedral of Hagia Sophia into a mosque “will turn millions of Christians around the world against Islam” and expressed hope that “wisdom and reason ultimately prevail.”
Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou stressed the importance of the contribution made by Archbishop Elpidophoros of America in the protection of human rights and the condemnation of racism and discrimination in a phone call on Tuesday, according to her official Twitter account.
Archbishop Elpidophoros of America joined a protest march over the killing of Louisville EMT Breonna Taylor, in the borough of Brooklyn, New York City, on Wednesday afternoon.
The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece rebuffed a call issued this week by the Istanbul-based Patriarch Vartholomaios for a dialogue between Orthodox churches regarding Holy Communion in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, while also denouncing yoga, which has been recommended by various bodies and groups as a way to relieve stress during the pandemic.