The Hagia Sophia

After the somewhat recent misunderstanding of Pope Benedict's speech in September that angered the entire Muslim world, the Pope heads to the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey. The history of the Hagia Sophia is significant because what was once a grand religious church and then a mosque is now a museum that does not permit religious ceremonies within. Muslims are afraid that if the Pope prays in the Hagia Sophia, he is sending a political message as well as a Christian one and intends to make it a church again. I read an article on belief.net about 40 members of the Turkish nationalist party, the Great Unity Party, protesting Pope Benedict XVI's visit next week on the basis that he links violence with Islam and they refuse to accept any more insults to their faith. I think the Turks are reading too much into the Pope's visit and viewing what should be seen as an attempt by the Pope to gain a greater understanding of the Muslim world and extent a welcoming hand in an unnecessarily negative light. First of all, the Hagia Sophia has not been a powerful Christian Church since 1453 and I sincerely doubt the Pope has any desire to restore the museum to the place of worship it once was or exert political influence in the form of religious prayer. The Pope was apologetic after his speech in September that was interpreted by Muslims as a slap in the face and ignorance regarding the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad.