Church Bells in Greece Toll Mournfully for Hagia Sophia

Orthodox Churches throughout Greece on Friday marked  the conversion of Constantinople’s Hagia Sophia to a mosque by mournfully tolling their bells.

Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Ieronymos called the conversion of the cradle of the Greek Orthodoxy as “an unholy act of sacrilege.”

Describing the 24. July a “day of mourning” for the Greek Orthodoxy and the Greeks across the world, Ieroymos called on people to attend the customary Good Friday liturgy and hymns at the Athens Cathedral at 8:00 p.m. on Friday.

The Metropolis of Agrinion and Patras in western Greece set the mood early in the morning, with hundreds of churches following later on.

All the churches in Crete tolled their bells at midday, as a “sign of inner pain for the deplorable decision to turn Hagia Sophia into a mosque,” according to an announcement from the Church of Crete.

On Thursday evening at Tinos Island, during a ceremony marking the arrival of the icon of Saint Pelagia, the metropolitan of Syros-Tinos Dorotheos invited the faithful to sing the Akathist Hymn.