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Pope 'Very Pained' by Decision to Turn Istanbul's Hagia Sophia Museum into Mosque

The dome of the Hagia Sophia. (AFP)
The dome of the Hagia Sophia. (AFP)
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Pope 'Very Pained' by Decision to Turn Istanbul's Hagia Sophia Museum into Mosque

The dome of the Hagia Sophia. (AFP)
The dome of the Hagia Sophia. (AFP)

Pope Francis said on Sunday he was hurt by Turkey’s decision to make Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia museum a mosque, the latest religious leader to condemn the move.

“My thoughts go to Istanbul. I think of Santa Sophia and I am very pained,” he said during his weekly blessing in St. Peter’s Square.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said the first prayers would be held in Hagia Sophia on July 24, after declaring the ancient monument was once again a mosque following a court ruling revoking its status as a museum.

The World Council of Churches has called on Erdogan to reverse his decision and Patriarch Bartholomew, the Istanbul-based spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, called it disappointing.

Erdogan said the nearly 1,500-year-old Hagia Sophia, which was once a Christian cathedral, would remain open to Muslims, Christians and foreigners.

He added that Turkey had exercised its sovereign right in converting it to a mosque and would interpret criticism of the move as an attack on its independence.

Greece has condemned the move and UNESCO said its World Heritage Committee would review Hagia Sophia’s status and that Turkey’s decision raised questions about the impact on its universal value as a site of importance transcending borders and generations.

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Trump Aide Waltz Says US Needs Ukrainian Leader Who Wants Peace

US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz speaks during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on February 21, 2025. (AFP)
US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz speaks during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on February 21, 2025. (AFP)
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Trump Aide Waltz Says US Needs Ukrainian Leader Who Wants Peace

US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz speaks during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on February 21, 2025. (AFP)
US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz speaks during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on February 21, 2025. (AFP)

A top adviser to President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the United States needs a Ukrainian leader who is willing to secure a lasting peace with Russia but that it is not clear Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is prepared to do so.

Days after a contentious Oval Office exchange between Trump, Zelenskiy and Vice President JD Vance, White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said Washington wants to secure a permanent peace between Moscow and Kyiv that involves territorial concessions in exchange for European-led security guarantees.

Asked whether Trump wants Zelenskiy to resign, Waltz told CNN's "State of the Union" program: "We need a leader that can deal with us, eventually deal with the Russians and end this war."

"If it becomes apparent that President Zelenskiy's either personal motivations or political motivations are divergent from ending the fighting in his country, then I think we have a real issue on our hands," Waltz added.

House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson also suggested that a different leader might be necessary in Ukraine if Zelenskiy does not comply with US demands.

"Something has to change. Either he needs to come to his senses and come back to the table in gratitude, or someone else needs to lead the country to do that," the top congressional Republican told NBC's Meet the Press program.

The extraordinary Oval Office exchange on Friday put tensions between Zelenskiy and Trump on public display. As a result, an agreement between Ukraine and the United States to jointly develop Ukraine's natural resources was left unsigned and in limbo.

"It wasn't clear to us that President Zelenskiy was ready to negotiate and in good faith towards an end of this war," Waltz said.

On ABC's This Week program, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he has not spoken with Zelenskiy since Friday.

Rubio also said he has not spoken to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha since Trump and Zelenskiy clashed at the White House and failed to sign an expected minerals deal.

"We'll be ready to reengage when they're ready to make peace," Rubio said on the show.

US Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, said on "This Week" that she was "appalled" by the clash in the Oval Office and that she met with Zelenskiy before he went to the White House on Friday and he had been excited to sign an expected minerals deal.

"There is still an opening here" for a peace deal, she said.