The basilica we call Hagia Sophia was actually dedicated to divine wisdom. And so one wonders whether the Turkish President's decision to reinstate Muslim worship in this extraordinary building is a wise one.
Changing the religious identity of a building is not new in history. In previous times, Christian churches did not hesitate to do this, whether they were ancient temples or mosques in Andalusia.
The question is whether this change is appropriate. And the answer is no.
Since 1934, Hagia Sophia has no longer been a place of worship, but a museum. The strong man of the time, Mustapha Kemal Atatürk, showed his will by "offering it to humanity".
Everyone could come with their own beliefs. The Christians, remembering that it was a church through the 6th-15th centuries; the Muslims, in memory of the mosque that existed for more than four centuries.
It is this rich history that led the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, to recently designate Saint Sophia as a "symbol of the encounter, solidarity and mutual understanding between Christianity and Islam".
This is what Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is turning his back on.
He's using the symbolism of a building as an act of conquest. He's using religion for political objectives, not hesitating to link the decision concerning Hagia Sophia to other aspects of the aggressive policy Turkey is currently carrying out "in Syria, in Libya and elsewhere".
He flatters nationalist sentiments in Turkey to divert attention from the country's economic difficulties.
As Pope Francis said at the Sunday Angelus, there is cause for sorrow.