Αρχιεπίσκοπος Σινά Συμεών ανακοινώνει υπογραφή συμφωνίας με την Αίγυπτο
The Archbishop of Sinai, Symeon, has announced that the Monastery of Saint Catherine will sign an agreement with the Egyptian state, backed by four Orthodox patriarchates and the Churches of Cyprus and Greece.
The Archbishop of Sinai, Symeon, has announced that the Greek Orthodox Monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai will sign an agreement with the Egyptian state concerning the monastery's property and status. He said the decision was taken with the support of the Patriarchates of Constantinople, Alexandria and Jerusalem, as well as the Churches of Cyprus and Greece.
According to the archbishop, the monastery received a draft agreement from the Egyptian government after a ruling by the Court of Appeal in Ismailia, issued on 28 May 2025, had already created concrete facts within Egyptian law. The proposed accord was intended to clarify aspects of that court decision and how it would be implemented, so that the monastic life of the community could continue without interruption and the monastery's position within Egypt's modern legal order could be defined.
Symeon said the monastery entered the dialogue bound by Egyptian legislation and the decisions of Egyptian courts, while acknowledging its responsibility toward the authorities of a country where it has existed for fifteen centuries. The brotherhood asked for additional time to study the proposal in detail, to submit counter-proposals for improving its practical application, and to compile a scientific dossier on the monastery's status quo and the documentation of the properties in question. He thanked the Egyptian government and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for their understanding, noting that the dialogue had already extended beyond one year, a delay he partly attributed to his own recent health problems.
The archbishop also said that the Greek state and other friendly circles of the monastery around the world had assisted the effort. He stressed that Sinai enjoys a historically distinct regime of ecclesiastical autonomy while also serving as an ark of universal Orthodoxy, so matters concerning it can become significant for Orthodox believers worldwide. For that reason, the brotherhood had received varied and sometimes contradictory recommendations and information from different parties.
To weigh the proposal, the monastery turned to the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which is canonically responsible for it. After a detailed briefing, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos, referred the matter further to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Patriarch Theodore of Alexandria, and the autocephalous Churches of Cyprus and Greece. Symeon reported that all of these churches welcomed the signing and expressed their fraternal support through patriarchal and synodal letters, which have been deposited in the monastery's archive. They expressed the hope that the agreement would help secure the settlement of pending issues and protect the monastery's historic and legal rights.
Symeon said the signing would take place in the near future, once his health permits, and that the specific date would be set together with the monastic fathers and the Egyptian government. He described the development as above all an expression of the unity of the Orthodox Churches of the East. The Court of Cassation of Egypt's decision, he added, was expected to lose its reason for issuance following the announcement, and the brotherhood expressed confidence that the climate of trust between Egypt and the monastery would allow any outstanding questions arising from the agreement to be resolved during its implementation.
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