Pope Francis visit: Turkey's Christians face tense times

[Sally]

Will there only be one religion in Turkey when those of the minorities pick up and leave? This will probably please many Muslims.

Pope Francis visit: Turkey's Christians face tense times
By Mark LowenBBC News, Istanbul

People praying in an Orthodox Christian church in Turkey

It tells of a city where empires, cultures and religions collided. A building that bears mosaics of Jesus and the Virgin Mary beside calligraphy reading "Allah" and "the Prophet Mohamed". There is no greater symbol of the clash of civilisations here than Hagia Sophia.

For almost 1,000 years it stood as the most important Orthodox cathedral in the world, the religious heart of the largely Christian Byzantine empire whose capital was then called Constantinople.

But in 1453 the city fell to the Ottomans, Hagia Sophia became a mosque and Christianity began its slow demise here.

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BBC News - Pope Francis visit Turkey s Christians face tense times?