
PHOTOS: Former Byzantine Church Converted to a Mosque in Istanbul is Reopened
The delicate mosaics and paintings have been covered with curtains in the areas designated for worship.
The delicate mosaics and paintings have been covered with curtains in the areas designated for worship.
The Church of the Holy Savior, also known as Chora Church, is recognized as one of the most important Byzantine gems in the world and is adorned with many unique icons and frescoes.
There are about 25,000 Roman Catholics living in Turkey, including migrants from Africa and the Philippines, according to a 2022 report by the U.S. State Department.
The minister also identified the victim of the attack as 52-year-old Turkish national Tuncer Cihan.
‘We don’t know the reason … we have to wait to understand why this tragedy happened, happened in the church during the Mass,’ Bishop Palinuro said.
The explosion on Istanbul’s Istiklal Avenue, a popular shopping street, on Nov. 13 killed six people and led around 80 others to be hospitalized.
Turkish President Erdoğan ordered Aug. 21 that Chora Church, a much-visited site in the Fatih district of Istanbul, be turned into a mosque and opened for Muslim worship.
The Pope’s comments followed the publication of articles in the Orthodox Christian media asking why the Vatican had not commented on the decision.
The Basilica of Hagia Sophia was built in 537 under the Byzantine Emperor Justinian and for a time, was the largest building in the world and the largest Christian church.
Manchin stated that the airstrikes are “particularly threatening to hundreds of traumatized Yazidi families attempting to return to Sinjar and to other civilians in northern Iraq—none of whom deserve to be placed in harm’s way by a NATO ally.”
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