In a message issued by Bishop Silvester, the Orthodox Diocese of Gulu and Eastern Uganda condemns the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque, saying, “Together with all Orthodox Christians worldwide, and all Christendom, in general, we express our great grief and pain over the conversion of our Cathedral of Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) into a mosque by the Turkish Muslim leaders.”
“As we mourn, we put our Hope in Christ our God, and as the psalm says: ‘we pour our supplication before Him; we declare our affliction in His presence’ (Psalm 141 (142). We condemn such an act as ungodly, unacceptable, unfair, uncivilised in times that as humans in our different nationalities and religions we are trying as much as we can to co-exist peacefully with love and mutual respect.”