Egypt Nationalizes Lands of Ancient St. Catherine’s Monastery, Straining Athens-Cairo Relations

A caller Egyptian tribunal ruling nationalizing the lands of St. Catherine’s Monastery, the world’s oldest continuously operating Christian monastery successful the Sinai Desert, has ignited tensions betwixt Egypt and Greece. Initial reports falsely suggested the monastery would beryllium closed and its Greek Orthodox monks evicted to marque mode for a museum, prompting swift denials from Egypt’s presidency.

However, the determination to transportation the monastery’s surrounding cultivation lands to the authorities has raised concerns astir the monks’ autonomy and the site’s humanities status.

Founded successful the 6th period by Byzantine Emperor Justinian I, St. Catherine’s Monastery lies astatine the ft of what galore Christians judge to beryllium the biblical Mount Sinai. Renowned for its immense room of priceless manuscripts and icons, the monastery has symbolized interfaith tolerance, with its close to run undisturbed reportedly granted by the Prophet Muhammad.

Egypt’s presidency clarified that the tribunal ruling allows the monks to proceed their spiritual duties, but the nationalization of the monastery’s lands has alarmed Orthodox Christian leaders and Greek officials. Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens condemned the determination arsenic “an enactment of convulsive infringement upon quality and spiritual rights,” urging the Greek authorities to intervene. Greece’s overseas curate demanded clarification, referencing anterior assurances from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi during his May sojourn to Athens. A Greek delegation is scheduled to sojourn Egypt connected Monday to code the issue.

Although Egypt’s presidency stated that Sisi and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reaffirmed their committedness to preserving the monastery’s ineffable presumption successful a Friday telephone call, the nationalization disrupts a tract whose ineligible ownership had remained ambiguous nether modern Egyptian law. Archimandrite Porphyrios Fragkakos, the monastery’s spokesman, told Greek media that the monks, owners since the 5th century, are present “guests successful their home,” with the state’s archaeological work controlling the lands.

The contented of the monastery’s ownership resurfaced during the Muslim Brotherhood’s little regularisation successful 2012 and continued nether Sisi’s government, which has tightened power implicit spiritual institutions. Previous negotiations betwixt Greece and Egypt appeared to person secured an out-of-court agreement, but the caller ruling has upended those efforts. The monastery’s ineligible representative, Christos Kompiliris, noted that portion the monks’ gardens were excluded, the cultivation lands sustaining the monastery for centuries are present authorities property, leaving it “essentially without property.”

Orthodox leaders, including Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, nether whose jurisdiction the monastery falls, person called connected Egypt to grant its humanities commitments to the monastery’s autonomy. Archbishop Elpidophoros of America warned that the ruling threatens spiritual freedoms and the monastery’s taste significance. Despite Egypt’s assurances, the determination marks a important displacement for a tract revered for its 15-century bequest of Christian witnesser and interfaith coexistence.