A man walks past the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, on April 1. (Photo: AFP)
Catholics have questioned the distorted version of the history of Istanbul’s ancient Cathedral Hagia Sophia being taught in schools in communist-ruled Kerala state in southern India.
Father Jacob G Palakkappilly, spokesman of the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC), said “it is quite disturbing to note that students in Class Seven were being taught a false history of one of the world’s greatest Byzantine monuments originally built as a church.”
The Hagia Sophia was built in the 6th century and is also known as the Church of the Holy or Divine Wisdom, and in subsequent centuries became a mosque, a museum, and a mosque again two years ago.
The textbook for Class Seven in Kerala has a lesson under the title, "Europe in the path of transformation," which described the ancient cathedral as a “historical monument” but hid the fact that it was originally a Christian church that was turned into a mosque, the priest told UCA News on July 20.
“When you teach history, you need to explain who, what, when, where, and how"
Government officials said it was an old lesson that needed to be updated. But Christian leaders said it amounted to wiping out a crucial part of history involving the contributions of Christians in building the historical cathedral.
“Why did the government safely bury its Christian connection,” asked Father Palackkapilly. “When you teach history, you need to explain who, what, when, where, and how, failing which new generations are misled to believe falsehoods.”
Christians are demanding that the government either drop the lesson or revise it to tell the factual history, rather than cheat the students.
“We know how the cathedral was converted into a mosque in 2020. It made world news,” said Mathew Xavier, a concerned parent, who appealed to the government to present the real history of Hagia Sophia while seeking action against those behind the manipulation.
The cathedral, built by Emperor Justinian I on the site of two earlier churches, was the world's largest at its dedication in 537.
Hagia Sophia remained a cathedral during the Byzantine Empire until 1453, but following the Ottoman capture of Constantinople, today's Istanbul, it served as a mosque for nearly five centuries.
Under Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, it was turned into a museum in 1935 and was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1985.
In July 2020 the cathedral (museum) was again declared a mosque by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan amidst widespread criticism from Christian and secular leaders from across the world.
Erdogan’s decision had reportedly become a political issue ahead of provincial polls in Kerala, after the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), one of the constituents of the Congress-led, ruling United Democratic Front (UDF), was accused of supporting the reconversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque.
The top brass of the IUML and the Congress tried reaching out to bishops and leaders of the Orthodox and Jacobite Christians to clarify the "misinterpretation" of its stand on the issue, but reportedly paid a price in the elections.
