By Kostas Onisenko
The Russian Orthodox Church officially – not through individual statements made by hierarchs – links the decision of the Turkish authorities to change the status of Hagia Sophia with the issue of Ukrainian autocephaly. The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church issued a statement today on the situation regarding Hagia Sophia, in which, among other things, it claims that the Orthodox Church appeared to be “divided” due to the Ukrainian autocephaly issue, which – according to the announcement – limited the potential for the Orthodox Church to react. In particular, the contentious point of the text is the following:
“Appealing to the brotherly Local Churches, we note with great sadness that this dismal event has found the Orthodox world divided, as a direct consequence of the uncanonical legalisation of the schism in Ukraine, which weakened our ability to oppose together new spiritual threats and civilisational challenges. Now, at a time of growing Christianophobia and increasing pressure on the Church from the secular society, unity is needed more than ever. We call upon the brotherly Local Churches to work together in the spirit of peace and love in Christ in order to seek ways to overcome the crisis.”
The announcement was issued at the end of the Holy Synod that took place on July 16-17. The Holy Synod expressed regret over the decision of the Turkish authorities. Among other things, the Holy Synod considers that this decision “[…] has hurt religious feelings of millions of Christians all over the world, which can cause disturbance of interfaith balance and impair mutual understanding between Christians and Muslims both in and beyond Turkey.”