In a statement to orthodoxia.info, the General Director of the Apostoliki Diakonia of the Church of Greece, Metropolitan Agathangelos of Fanari, suggested that, when the first Muslim prayer took place in Hagia Sophia, all Orthodox churches and monasteries all over the world should be open and the faithful, archpriests, priests, monks and nuns should chant the Akathist Hymn.
“Our response to the current blasphemy today can only be given through prayer. Just as our ancestors and Fathers turned to the Most Holy Theotokos, the Champion General of our Nation, every time the enemies besieged the walls of Constantinople, so now we must also turn to Her and ask the Virgin Mary to deliver the Church of Hagia Sophia out of ‘so great dangers,'” noted the Metropolitan of Fanari.
The Metropolitan of Fanari claimed that “through the unity of the faith and devotion to the traditions, we as orthodox people and a pious Nation will always attest to the Wisdom of God.”
“Imagine the time when the verses of the Quran will be heard under the great mosaics and the bright dome that seems to touch the heavens, the “O Champion General” will be heard in the temples of our homeland and all over the world and the whole planet will realize the significance and history of this unique monument,” stressed the Metropolitan of Fanari who cited a recent statement made by Professor Vlasios Feidas at orthodoxia.info to remind us that “all the Orthodox people of the East were born and all the Christian people of the West were reborn in Hagia Sophia.”
“As Professor Vlasios Feidas very aptly remarked, ‘in Hagia Sophia its eternal Divine Liturgy, interrupted during the Fall of Constantinople, has not yet ended, that is why it continues secretly in all the Hagia Sophias of all orthodox peoples by radiating their light, like the rays of the sun, to their common source, the Hagia Sophia of Constantinople.” “For Hagia Sophia, we must then join our prayers, turning to our Mother, the Most Holy Theotokos,” concluded the Metropolitan of Fanari, “and we must feel that, when Heaven celebrates, the whole earth celebrates.”