The Church of Crete expressed its sorrow too for the conversion of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople into a mosque and will participate in a series of actions that reflect the offensive and unacceptable, as it characteristically emphasizes, decision of the Turkish government.
In particular, it announces that next Friday, July 24, at 12pm there will be a ten-minute mourning knell in all the Holy Temples of Crete.
Also, in the Holy Monasteries and the Holy Hermitages of the Church of Crete, the Supplicatory Canon will be performed to the Most Holy Theotokos, the Champion General of our Nation, in this difficult period.
The Holy Synod of the Church of Crete also emphasizes that they pray heartily “for the Mother Church, the Ecumenical Throne and His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, looking forward to the mercy and charity of the All-merciful God, regarding this offensive and inappropriate decision.”
“Hagia Sophia, the Great Monastery, the Great Church of the Nation and Hellenism will not cease to shelter the prayer and supplication of every Orthodox and all Christianity.”