The Vatican and Pope Francis have remained utterly silent about the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque and is causing concern in the Christian world.
At a time when the whole world, both religiously, politically and academically, has taken a clear stand against Turkey's intention to once again desecrate Hagia Sophia, Rome is silent, Aetos News wrote.
Unless the Pope condemns the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque, there can be no common Christian "front" against the decision. It goes without saying that the Pope's stance also affects the stance of the political leaders of the states, especially of central Europe.
On June 18, the Roman Catholic Bishops of Turkey, in a statement to the Catholic News Agency (CNA), chose to support the Turkish government by saying that Hagia Sophia would be converted.
"We are a Church that lacks legal status, so we cannot give advice on the internal affairs of this country," the Turkish Catholic bishops said, adding that "although we would like the Hagia Sophia to maintain its character as a museum, it is not for us to intervene or even to express our opinion on a decision that concerns exclusively the Turkish Republic."
At a time when the Holy See was silent and their bishops in Turkey were "touching their hands" on the issue of the Hagia Sophia, the only ones who stood up to the circumstances were the Roman Catholic Bishops of Greece, whose Council sent a letter to the Turkish President calling on him to stop the actions.
"The Holy Synod does not want to believe that you really intend to take such an action, which would offend the religious sentiment of the two billion Christians around the universe," the letter said. "This is unthinkable for us, especially today when an effort is being made to respect the faith of every human being and especially in Democratic States," the Catholic Hierarchy of Greece wrote to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
