The Monastery of Saint Catherine on Sinai Faces Threat of Closure Due to Legal Disputes

The sacred Monastery of Saint Catherine on Mount Sinai, one of the oldest Christian holy sites in the world, is facing a difficult situation due to a court ruling in Egypt that could lead to its closure. This was reported by Archbishop Damian of Sinai, Pharan, and Raitho, who has been leading the monastery for over a quarter of a century. The information comes from the Greek resource Ekirikas.

The 91-year-old prelate explained that for more than ten years, the monastic community has been engaged in lengthy legal battles to defend its rights over its land holdings. Currently, about 18 to 20 monks reside in the monastery.

The archbishop clarified that the problems arose after the Egyptian government in 1980 introduced a requirement for property declarations in areas without an official land registry. The monastery was among the first to submit a complete set of documents covering all its properties — including gardens and churches — and received confirmation of their receipt.

However, despite this, the monastery’s property rights were never officially recognized, while other landowners received their documents. After about twenty years, the Egyptian authorities declared that the monastery’s claims to the land were unfounded and refused to acknowledge its rights.

Additionally, the archbishop noted that the conflict was exacerbated by attacks from Muslim religious radicals who began to view the monastery as outsiders illegally owning the land, unlike others who had recently acquired it—often through unlawful means.

Meanwhile, according to the archbishop, the Egyptian authorities profit significantly from pilgrimage tourism but refuse to protect the monastery’s interests or recognize its land rights.

The issue has gained international attention — Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and the Greek Prime Minister reached an agreement to preserve the monastery, but local officials continue to make new demands.

Recently, a representative of the archbishop met with Greek Foreign Minister Georgios Gerapetritis to discuss the crisis. Archbishop Damian warned that if the situation remains unresolved, the monastery may be forced to cease its activities.

At the same time, the archbishop emphasized that the monks do not seek to escalate the conflict and do not want to harm the development of tourism in the country. He sharply criticized the actions of local authorities, stating that officials are effectively suffocating the monastery by concealing the real problems.

“Egyptian officials did not want this issue to become public knowledge, but they themselves brought it to public discussion. We are only defending our rights,” the archbishop concluded.

It is also worth noting that at the end of May 2025, “chaplains” from the Chernivtsi Diocese of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) visited the borders of the Ukrainian Vicariate within the Romanian Orthodox Church. The visit reportedly took place on the initiative of the Romanian Patriarchate “to deepen relations” between the OCU and the Romanian Orthodox Church.