Metropolitan Serafeim: Transformation of Hagia Sophia into mosque is a sign of weakness of Orthodoxy

This expected situation became a major blow to the Orthodox World, which sees the Church of Hagia Sophia (Church of Holy Wisdom) as a landmark site of the Orthodox Christianity.

Commenting on the situation with Hagia Sophia, Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus (the Church of Greece) stressed that this development is an apparent sign of the lack of unity in the Orthodox World. He recalled the 'tragic mistake' of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople to grant a tomos to the 'independent' Orthodox Church of Ukraine that created a rift among local Orthodox churches around the world. This, according to him, undermined the unity of the Orthodox World and weakened it. He criticized forces that "cling to heretics" rather than working to set up a united and powerful Orthodox force.

"I hope it's now clear how tragic a mistake it was to grant autocephaly to schismatics and an unauthorized bunch in Ukraine at the behest of the Euro-Atlanticists, because this is an event that destroyed the unity of the Orthodox Autocephalous Churches," Metropolitan Seraphim concluded.

Additionally, Metropolitan Seraphim called on the Greek government to react to the Turkish decision immidiately. Earlier, Metropolitan Seraphim criticized the Greek leadership for "investing in the West", which regularly betrays it.