I recently returned from Turkey, part of the crew participating in the filming of Word On Fire’s documentary series,
Catholicism. Our visit to Turkey was for the most part to follow in the footsteps of St. Paul and to present the visual splendor of the land, which is the cradle of the Church. One highlight of the trip was Hagia Sofia, once the most magnificent church in the world. The building is now a museum, the prayers of the faithful now silenced and replaced by the voices of tourists and their guides. Hagia Sofia still inspires, even though only vestiges of its former glory remain. However, for the Christian, the experience can be wrought with profound sadness. The believer familiar with sacred spaces which still resonate with the prayers of our sacred liturgies immediately knows that Hagia Sofia is now a building bereft of its true purpose. It was built, not simply as a monument to human culture, but as a temple in which the Eucharist of the Lord would be celebrated and shared. Despite the removal of its sacred Christian art and the evacuated spaces which once were filled by the altar and sanctuary, one still knows that the building is a church. Why?
Because despite all the efforts to de-Christianize, Islam-asize, and secularize, it still looks like a church....