Our organization is chartered as a non-profit corporation under the laws of the State of New Hampshire, and has received its 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status determination from the Internal Revenue Service.

The mission of the Free Agia Sophia Council of America is to restore the great church of Agia Sophia located in Istanbul (Constantinople), Turkey, as a functioning church of the Orthodox Christian faith, and to re-establish Agia Sophia as the Holy House of Prayer for all Christians of the world and the Basilica (Seat) of Orthodoxy that it was before the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453 AD.

If you believe that our cause is just, if you believe in the rebirth of Agia Sophia as an active Christian Church, we ask that you join us as a member. In making this request, we reach out to those who are adherents of all religions, and of none. The effort will be long, difficult, and expensive. If you wish to contribute to our endeavor please click here.

Long ago Moses asked the Pharaoh of Egypt to let his people go free from slavery, and they were freed. In our own age, Nelson Mandela demanded that same freedom from the white leaders of South Africa, and it was achieved. Soon we will demand that the current Turkish government free Agia Sophia from bondage, so that all Christians may pray freely in that ancient and sacred place. Our cause is righteous; our efforts will succeed!

On May 29, 1453, the most revered Christian Church of Agia Sophia was captured by the invading Ottoman Turk forces when they conquered Byzantium's capital Constantinople. On that day, 553 years ago, Agia Sophia, the mother Church of Christendom, named for and honoring God's Wisdom, ceased being the center of pilgrimage for Christians all over the world, though it remains the eternal symbol of the Orthodox Christian faith.

For nearly 1000 years, Agia Sophia was the largest and most magnificent Christian Church on earth; it was dedicated by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian on December 27, 537 A.D. Its immense dome, which seems to hover gracefully as if weightless above the spacious nave, symbolizes the celestial vault, the dome of heaven. Emperor Justinian built Agia Sophia to pay homage to the Wisdom of God, seen in the creation of the universe and the laws of cosmic harmony that govern it.

Just as King Solomon created the splendor of his Temple in Jerusalem to celebrate the Glory of God, so too did Justinian seek to allude to the perfection of His Wisdom through the beauty of the Basilica in Constantinople. Upon entering Agia Sophia on the day of its dedication, Justinian is said to have exclaimed "Glory to God that I have been judged worthy of such work. Oh Solomon! I have surpassed thee!"

Agia Sophia took its place as the spiritual center for all Christians. Indeed it became the Cathedral of Christianity, the mother Church of all the faithful, and one of the most important, majestic, and beautiful holy places in the entire world.

Since its capture in 1453, however, Agia Sophia has been stripped of its Christian symbols, and has been left to rot with the passing of time. Its priceless and irreplaceable icons have been abused and covered over with plaster, and its religious relics and treasures removed or stolen. Today, Agia Sophia serves as a museum run by the Turkish state, hosting international trade shows, fashion design gatherings, and musical concerts.

Click here to view a gallery of violations

Talk about sacrilege! Talk about defacing a holy site! Talk about disrespect for a church of God! Talk about abuse of holy spaces and holy figures!

Recently many faithful of the Muslim religion rose in indignation against newspaper cartoons that carelessly and with disrespect depicted their Holy Prophet Mohammed. The Muslim religious leaders were right to object to such an insensitive representation, really a trivialization, of what is most sacred to them. Those who insisted on the overwhelming importance of honoring holy figures found common cause among all peoples who believe in religious freedom, and who respect the holy sites and revere the prophets and saints of all religions.

No government should participate in or condone actions which abuse, demean, or ridicule religious beliefs, deface holy places, or dishonor religious figures. And no state should ever be allowed to deprive the faithful of any religion of the right to pray.

No government should interfere in the free expression of religious beliefs. And no government should presume to permit that a holy site be desecrated. President George W. Bush put it succinctly on February 1, 2001 when he said: "The days of discriminating against religious institutions simply because they are religious must come to an end."

Agia Sophia, the ancient mother church of Christianity, has been ridiculed, defaced and defiled by its conversion into an international bazaar. The time has come for the political leadership of today's Turkish state, the successors to those responsible for the sacrilegious acts against Agia Sophia, to help us return that sacred site to its rightful status as an Orthodox Christian Church, as it was when their ancestors captured it.

The Free Agia Sophia Council of America is committed to pursuing every peaceful, diplomatic, political, and legal avenue available in the American, European and international arenas to achieve our objective - nothing less than Agia Sophia"s restoration to a functioning church of the Orthodox Christian Faith, a Holy House of Prayer for all Christians of the world, and the central Basilica of Orthodoxy.

We believe our cause is just and reasonable. In the end, we shall prevail. Just like the millions of Catholic Christians who pray at Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome; the millions of Muslim faithful who perform their pilgrimage to the holy places of Mecca; the millions of Jews who pray at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem; we, the Orthodox Christians of all nationalities, will one day pray together at our Holy Church, our Holy Cathedral, the Mother Church of Christianity, the church of God's Holy Wisdom, Agia Sophia.

It is to the hope that we will see that day in our lifetimes that we dedicate these efforts, and that we commit our Council. We ask for your support, whatever your religious tradition, for ours is a universal mission. With your help, we will succeed.

Chris Spirou, Founder and President
Free Agia Sophia Council of America