St. Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai: Archbishop Simeon Hopes to Reach an Agreement with Egypt

The historic St. Catherine’s Monastery on Mount Sinai is at the center of a complex negotiation process with the Egyptian authorities. Despite a ruling by the Court of Appeals in Ismailia issued more than a year ago, the final status of ownership and legal issues remain under discussion, according to the website Zivotcrkve.rs.

The situation is complicated by internal disagreements within the church community. Honorary Archbishop Damian of Sinai expressed serious concern about the possible terms of the deal, fearing that the monastery might lose its sovereign rights. In response, the current Archbishop Simeon of Sinai, commenting on the situation for the parapolitika.gr portal, emphasized that the monastery’s leadership is striving to build an atmosphere of trust with the Egyptian government and expects progress in the negotiations by the end of the summer.

One of the key obstacles remains the fact that the Egyptian government has not yet officially recognized Archbishop Simeon or granted him Egyptian citizenship. These circumstances raise questions about the legitimacy of any future signing of the documents. At the same time, as sources at ope.gr note, Greek government agencies—the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education—are refraining from public comment, adhering to a strategy of non-interference in the direct dialogue between the monastery and Egypt.

Although the future of the monastery is an important issue in bilateral relations between Greece and Egypt, the final decision, according to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, remains the prerogative of the Sinai Brotherhood.