Yesterday’s agreement with the Egyptian government marks the legal recognition of the Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine on Mount Sinai, ensuring, for the first time in the more than 1,000-year history and presence of the monastic institution in the wider region, its uninterrupted continuity and existence through institutional means.
On a landmark day for the sustainability and operation of the Monastery—as the ruling by the Supreme Court of Cassation of the Arab Republic of Egypt was expected yesterday— Archbishop Simeon of Sinai announced in a letter his intention to sign the agreement with the Egyptian government following consultations, putting an end to centuries of uncertainty, as well as to speculation about the possible loss of the world’s most iconic Greek Orthodox monastery.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
Archbishop Symeon made his intentions known—in the wake of the emergency meeting of the Permanent Holy Synod of the Church of Greece— reiterating in his letter their “unreserved fraternal support for the signing of the aforementioned agreement, with the hope and expectation that it will contribute to the safe resolution of pending issues and the safeguarding of the historical and legal rights of the Monastery” on the part of the Ecumenical Throne, the Ancient Patriarchates and the Churches of Greece and Cyprus, while “in the near future, as soon as my health permits, at which time the specific date for the signing will be set in consultation with the Fathers and the Egyptian government,” concluded Archbishop Symeon.
Archbishop Symeon’s Announcement
The Greek Orthodox Holy Monastery of the Theobadist on Mount Sinai (St. Catherine’s), a year ago, following my election as the new Archbishop of Sinai—and while the decision of the Court of Appeals of Ismailia dated May 28, 2025 (i.e., prior to my election), the decision of the Court of Appeals of Ismailia had created specific, binding legal facts within the Egyptian legal system, I received from the esteemed Egyptian Government a draft agreement between the State of the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Holy Monastery. The aforementioned proposed agreement sought to further clarify aspects of the court ruling and the manner of its implementation, in a manner consistent with the centuries-old traditions, so as to ensure the uninterrupted monastic life of the Monastery and to clarify its status and function within the framework of Egypt’s modern legal order.
The Monastery of Sinai entered into the dialogue bound by Egyptian law and the decisions of the Egyptian courts, and with a sense of responsibility toward its age-old spiritual heritageher spiritual heritage, as well as a sense of responsibility toward the Egyptian authorities, the country of the Nile within which it has flourished for fifteen centuries.
At the same time, it requested additional time to thoroughly study the proposal, to submit counterproposals for improving certain aspects of the agreement regarding its practical implementation (to this end, it was supplemented with other explanatory supporting documents), and to scientifically compile the dossier concerning its status quo and the documentation of the properties under discussion, a dossier that was compiled as a scientific study.
It is with great satisfaction that we wish to emphatically state that, at this point, the Monastery had the understanding of the esteemed Egyptian Government and its Excellency President AbdelFattah al-Sisi, with the result that the dialogue has already been extended for over a year—a development to which my own recent health issues also contributed.
We have been supported in this effort by the Greek government, as well as by many other friends of the Monastery around the world. It is well known that the Monastery of Sinai has historically enjoyed a special status of ecclesiastical autonomy. At the same time, however, it serves as an Ark of Ecumenical Orthodoxy, and issues concerning it have the potential to become major concerns for Christians worldwide, and particularly for Orthodox believers. Thus, it is no coincidence that during the intervening period, the Sinai Brotherhood has been the recipient of various contradictory proposals and information from both authorized and unauthorized sources, from experts and from those who were well-meaning but uninformed.
Nevertheless, without ignoring or underestimating any well-documented opinion, the Brotherhood judged that it had, first and foremost, the most to gain from the centuries-old and unbroken experience of the Autocephalous Orthodox Churches, and especially that of the Patriarchs of our own East.
In this context, we turned to the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, with which we have canonical ties, so that, after receiving detailed information regarding the aforementioned draft agreement and related matters, to obtain the authoritative opinion of the Church of Zion on the matter. His Beatitude Theophilos, Patriarch of Jerusalem, recognizing that the matter requires careful consideration, and at our request, further addressed His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, His Beatitude Theodore, Patriarch of Alexandria, and the Autocephalous Churches of Cyprus and Greece.
Today, with great emotion, we are able to report that all of the aforementioned Churches, having been informed in detail, have expressed their approval through patriarchal and synodal letters—which have been filed in the monastery’s archives—and have expressed their wholehearted fraternal support for the signing of the aforementioned agreement, with the hope and expectation that it will contribute to the safe resolution of pending issues and the safeguarding of the Monastery’s historical and legal rights.
This development certainly gives the Sinai Brotherhood and me personally the encouragement to proceed with the signing of the Agreement in the near future, as soon as my health permits, at which time the specific date for the signing will be set in consultation with the Fathers and the Egyptian government.
This development, however, is first and foremost an expression of the unity of the Orthodox Churches of the East. The God-blessed Mount Sinai rejoices because, through the honorable Patriarchal and Synodal Letters it received, it served as the occasion for this unity to be reaffirmed once again, and because the Monastery of Sinai, situated “in a land that is desolate, inaccessible, and arid,” Monastery of Sinai enjoys their love and practical support in complete unanimity.
In this climate of deeply entrenched trust between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Monastery of Sinai, we are certain that, following today’s announcement regarding the aforementioned agreement, there is no longer any grounds for the Supreme Court of Cassation of the Arab Republic of Egypt to issue its ruling.
We are confident that during the period of implementation of the Agreement, the climate of deep-rooted trust between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Monastery of Sinai will allow us to resolve any specific outstanding issues that may arise regarding the Agreement and the accompanyingaccompanying documents.
Expressing our heartfelt gratitude to the Most Reverend Primates and their respective Holy Synods, we offer thanksgiving to the Almighty Lord and humbly believe that the intercession of our patron saint, the Great Martyr Catherine, has brought theentire Eastern Orthodox Church in our region to the side of the Monastery of Sinai, in whose institution the age-old, deep, and fraternal relationship between two nations and great civilizations—Egypt and Greece—is reaffirmed.
Finally, addressing everyone, we affirm that the God-blessed Mount Sinai stands, by the grace of God, “in its rightful place,” with the Fathers ministering there, striving, and welcoming every pilgrim, visitor, and traveler.
Mitsotakis: “A historic milestone”
Following this, to ensure the uninterrupted presence of the Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine on Mount Sinai, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, following the agreement regarding the Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine, expressing, among other things, the support of all Greeks for the Monastery’s decisions, following the agreement with Egypt.
In fact, the Prime Minister congratulated the Archbishop and noted that the joint stance of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Patriarchate of Alexandria, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Church of Cyprus, and the Church of Greece on the issue of the Holy Monastery of Sinai is a strong and clear message of unity for Hellenism as a whole, as well as for Eastern Orthodoxy, while at the same time confirming what Hellenism can achieve when it unites and works methodically. As Mr. Mitsotakis aptly noted, the agreement between the Holy Monastery and Egypt constitutes a historic milestone that consolidates the Holy Monastery’s legal status and safeguards its existence and its Greek Orthodox character inforever.
At the same time, the Prime Minister and the Archbishop of Sinai made special mention of the personal interest shown by the President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and to the love with which the Egyptian people have always embraced the Holy Monastery of Sinai.
Gerapetritis: Actions, Not Empty Words
Earlier, in a post, Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis spoke of a “historic day for Hellenism and Orthodoxy,” noting that the Monastery now has a “solid legal foundation” ensuring the unaltered religious character of the monastery and its ecclesiastical properties, as well as its continuity through the granting of long-term residence permits to the monks.
At the same time, the Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs emphasized that “this development also sends a message of unity within Orthodoxy” and added that the Greek government “has stood and will continue to stand alongside our Ancient Patriarchates and the Holy Monastery of St. Catherine, through actions that break the inertia of centuries, not through empty words”.
Source: protothema.gr
