Beyond the borders of Turkey, the city of Konya is well-known. Located just south of Ankara, it is Turkey’s most religiously conservative city. On the trip I made this summer with the Interfaith Dialog Center, all of us, Catholics, Protestants and Muslims, were excited to visit this center of Sufi mysticism.

At the heart of the Eastern Roman Empire, this imposing statement of the Christian faith was served by 80 priests, 150 deacons, 60 subdeacons, and 75 doorkeepers. In the summer of 1968, I had visited this church. This past summer, I had the good fortune of visiting it again with a greater appreciation of its place and meaning in history.