Hagia Sophia Mosque and the crisis of Romanism

Article by George Kyprianou

HAIGIA SOFIA CONSTANTINOPLE 3 Coronavirus, HAIGIA SOFIA, George Kyprianou, CONSTANTINOPLE

of George Kyprianou, Theologian Teacher, President of the Cultural Association ROMIOSYNI

The fact of the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque is great and sad. Insult and insult. A blasphemous and sacrilegious act against the world's religious and cultural heritage. Especially for the Romans of the universe it is a heartbreaking event and scratching of an incurable wound, a heavy blow and a deep trauma to what keeps us alive and hopeful. However, I personally try to decode the meaning and extent of the event within me somewhat differently.

As much as for us the City and the Hagia Sophia are the quintessence of our historical presence and testimony as Orthodox Romans, as much as the Eastern Roman Empire (according to other Byzantine irons) consolidated, augmented, ennobled and consolidated and perpetuated Orthodoxy as a whole. institution and on earth glory and power, it does not cease to have fallen and degraded to the level of an empty slogan and emblem. And I explain.

I find it very ironic and frustrated by the outcry against the decision of the admittedly politically and nationally self-proclaimed Erdogan, at a time when the majority of the outcry members do not share the vision and deep essence of the concept of Romanism.

And here fits the very academic Fr. Ioannis Romanidis, the father of the concept of Romanism, who clarifies: “Rome knows that Romanism possesses the truth and is the highest form of civilization. But he understands perfectly well the fact that God loves Rome, but no more than others… The heroism of Romanism is a true and enduring state of mind and not savagery, barbarism and predation… And today some remain Roman, but others Americanize, Russian they fry, they grind, that is, they grind ”.

Unfortunately, the concepts of "Romanism", "City", "Hagia Sophia" have been interpreted and sometimes used as slogans of fanaticism, nationalism, vindictive tendencies, national polarization and intolerance. What is required, however, is the internal and spiritual dimension of Romanism and not its identification with geopolitical theories, claims and revenge. And we can stay away from her. We see it every day. In our habits, in our views, in our attitude towards life, in our choices and decisions.

Now we are cutting for Hagia Sophia. And we are doing well. But how many of us have so far wondered about how truly Roman we are, how much Romanism we have saved inside and outside of us? How many of us have been self-critical about the meaning of our lives, about whether they are characterized and imbued with the eternal values ​​of Romanism? Faith, tradition, freedom, mutual justice, brotherhood, humility, spiritual vigilance, historical consciousness and identity, responsibility and above all love for all, even for the enemy? How can one claim the annihilation of the "enemy" as a desire for revenge and justification and consider that this is how the vision of Romanism serves? Because it is one thing to mention annihilation as a result of actions and choices and another to wish it with me.

Also, I can not but comment on the recent issues that arose in the midst of the coronavirus and on the occasion of the infamous article of the student. For so many months, the Church has received incredible warfare from its own children. The Mysteries of the Church, faith as an experience, the presence of the Orthodox faith in the educational system and so much more concerning the teachings of the Gospel have passed through the sieve of criticism and challenge by "Roman" brethren. And we are not referring to the comments against Church leaders. We refer to the deep crisis that the principles and values ​​of the Church have experienced and are experiencing, and above all the faith in the truth of the Gospel handed down, recorded and experienced by our saints among us.

The city is conquered again and again, in many ways and in many ways every time the truths of Romanism are shaken. Every time Romanism as an experience and ethos is expelled and dethroned by foreign morals, the deviations and shameful ones that are "proudly" carried en masse everywhere. Every time the Hagia Sophia, instead of hurting us even as a museum and worrying about our lives and our morals, it becomes a symbol of aspirations and other expediencies. Every time we are interested in the interests of our own and foreigners, we are ready to accept other people's laws, rules and behaviors from the ethos of our Church. Every time we want to keep up with the "civilized" world of the West or the "mystical" world of the East. Every time the mirror of our body and soul does not sign our form "Roman" but anything else. Every time our faith is shaken.

Let us, then, turn the pain of the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a Mosque into a provocation of self-criticism and a springboard for the return of the one who erected Hagia Sophia as a edifice and as a power from on high. Above all, let us bow down in prayer and contemplation, as Christ did on the Mount of Olives before the Conception and the Passion. With tears like blood clots, with anguish for any Passion and the loss of every Judas. And let us be left to the will of the Lord. With confidence, love, pain and obedience. As true Romans and not as bad guys. And finally, in the face of the turmoil that has already begun to appear on the horizon, let us give ourselves completely to the Hagia Sophia of God, to the King of Glory, the Lord Jesus Christ, repeating his own paraphrased words: as we want but as Sy ”, the Holy Wisdom of God.