Padua, 4-5 May 2026. Presentation of the Volume on Hagia Sophia Churches

The Secretary General of the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (IAO), dr. Maximos Charakopoulos, accompanied by the member of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr. Elias Myrianthus, as well as the IAO Advisor, dr. Kostas Mygdalis, traveled to Padua, Italy, for the presentation of the IAO Volume entitled “Hagia Sophia: The Churches of the Wisdom of God around the World”. The presentation of the IAO publication took place within the framework of the Exhibition and Conference on the theme: “Between the East and Venice. Typography, Engravings and Greek Books, 17th-19th centuries”, in memory of the late Director of the Hellenic Institute of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Studies in Venice, Professor Chrysa Maltezou.

The head of the IAO pointed out that “the presentation of the Volume, as well as the Conference and Exhibition organized these days in Padua, has a special semantic value. This is because this city fully condenses what we call the European spirit. It possesses all the creative elements of the ancient Greek, Roman and Christian tradition, which very early and very fruitfully cultivated European humanism. The foundations, in other words, of our common European civilization.”

The Secretary General in his speech focused on two points: “one is the common cultural path of the unified European civilization, which we must protect. Of course, we all seek progress and adaptation to the new conditions that life creates, as the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, everything flows. However, without roots, without awareness of our past, without adherence to our common values, which include our Christian values, what can the European future be? Especially in a world that seems to be changing rapidly, and violently.

The second element is that the awareness of this common cultural origin and historical course raises responsibilities for all of us to defend our common cultural heritage. We felt this responsibility as an interparliamentary organization of the Orthodox people, which includes deputies from 25 parliaments, so that we could proceed with the publication of this volume. The reason for our initiative is our anxiety about the fate of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, following the decision of the Turkish leadership in 2020 to convert the Lighthouse of Universal Christianity into a Muslim mosque. This was clearly an act that was motivated by political motives and aimed at the instrumentalization of religion.”

Furthermore, during the presentation, Professor of the University of Bergamo, Riccardo Saccenti, and the Deputy Mayor of Padua, Ms. Francesca Benciolini, spoke about the Volume, while the President of the Greek Community of Venice, Mr. Dimitris Zafeiropoulos was the coordinator.

Earlier, the members of the IAO delegation visited the Greek Orthodox Church of the Apostle Luke in Padua, as well as the Church of Hagia Sophia in Padua, where they were informed about it by the parish priest Don Giorgio Ronzoni.