Saint Catherine Monastery Ownership Dispute Draws Greek Delegation to Egypt

The ownership of Saint Catherine Monastery connected Mount Sinai is disputed by the Eqyptian court. Credit: Joonas Plaan/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 2.0

The caller Egyptian tribunal determination connected the presumption of the Greek Orthodox Monastery of Saint Catherine of Sinai has Greece reacting by sending a delegation to Cairo connected Monday.

According to a determination of an Egyptian court, the Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine of Sinai, the surrounding country and each the properties it owns successful Egypt walk into the hands of the Egyptian State.

The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the menace to the monastery is simply a rumor. A spokesperson stated that, “The Monastery of Saint Catherine and its historical sites stay wholly unaffected. Its spiritual and archaeological significance, on with its cemetery, stay afloat intact.”

The Egyptian authoritative explained that portion contracts person been signed for definite adjacent areas to beryllium designated arsenic earthy reserves, the tribunal ruled that the monks volition support their rights to entree and usage these spiritual and archaeological sites to sphere their spiritual significance.

However, the connection does not clarify the presumption of the monastery. It whitethorn proceed its contiguous relation but it volition not support its autonomous presumption since it volition beryllium spot of the Egyptian State.

Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Lana Zohiou said that, “The governments of Greece and Egypt person been moving systematically lately for an statement that volition guarantee the ineffable Greek Orthodox quality of the area. We are awaiting the dispatch of the determination of the Egyptian tribunal that was issued yesterday.”

“The Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs instantly contacted the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt and made it wide that determination is nary country for deviating from the communal knowing of the 2 sides, which was expressed by the leaders of the 2 countries successful the discourse of the caller Supreme Cooperation Council successful Athens,” she emphasized.

Ecumenical Patriarch calls connected Egypt to respect the monastery status

Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew called connected the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to support the ownership presumption of the Monastery of Saint Catherine of Sinai.

In the statement, Bartholomew calls the May 28 Egyptian tribunal determination a “painful surprise”, expressing his interest implicit the destiny of the historical monastery and its spiritual significance.

The contented is implicit the deficiency of ownership documents and has raised concerns that the spiritual tract mightiness beryllium confiscated and the monks evicted.

The Ecumenical Patriarch asks the Egyptian person to respect the centuries-long spiritual contented of the tract and the agreed presumption of it status.

“The Ecumenical Patriarchate appeals to the Egyptian Government, particularly successful airy of the caller statements made by the country’s President, His Excellency Mr. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, to find an due mode to sphere the ownership presumption of the Holy Monastery—an statement that has been respected and privileged for centuries, adjacent nether Islam—and to instrumentality the caller statement reached with the Monastery,” the connection reads.

UNESCO has characterized the Saint Catherine’s Monastery connected Mount Sinai a World Heritage Site arsenic 1 of the astir important Christian landmarks successful the world. It was built betwixt between 548 and 565 CE and is the oldest continuously inhabited Christian monastery.

The monastery room has a agelong database of priceless past Christian manuscripts and artifacts. Its postulation is second largest to the Vatican Library. It contains Greek, Arabic, Armenian, Hebrew, Georgian, Syriac, and Udi texts of immeasurable value. There is grounds that manuscripts were produced successful the Sinai successful the 7th century. In caller years, galore of the manuscripts person been digitized.

No statement of spot rights

The contented of a broad statement regarding spot rights of the Monastery of Saint Catherine of Sinai has been discussed but has not been signed.

According to Greek media reports, successful precocious December Major General Dr Khaled Moubarak Hussein Bakri, Governor of South Sinai, and Archbishop Damianos, the monastery’s ineligible typical nether Presidential Decree 306 of 1974 had extended negotiations implicit the monastery’s spot rights. However, the 2 sides did not motion a broad agreement, leaving the contented open.

The projected colony addressed lawsuits filed since 2015 by the South Sinai Governorate challenging the monastery’s ownership of 71 disputed plots, the study says. An Egyptian Ministry of Justice five-member committee elaborate boundaries and characteristics of the contested pieces of land. The cases were postponed until the unfavorable tribunal determination was issued connected Wednesday.

The unsigned statement explicitly recognized the monastery’s ownership rights, stating that the parties hold that, according to the registration of Saint Catherine’s Monastery connected the World Heritage List, the monastery, its buildings, its plots, churches and related buildings represent spot of the monastery belonging to the Greek Orthodox Doctrine. The Egyptian State recognized the area’s humanities value and taste practice dating to the 4th century.

According to the draught terms, the monastery would stay autonomous successful managing its internal, administrative and spiritual affairs without outer interference. The abbot would oversee each activities portion cooperating with Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities for gathering conservation.

There was besides peculiar attraction fixed to the biology practice of the monastery with provisions protecting past trees. The seventh nonfiction of the statement stated that the parties afloat hold connected their committedness to reconciliation, waiver and termination of the ongoing ineligible quality betwixt the South Sinai Governorate and the monastery.

However, since the statement papers was not signed, the Egyptian tribunal issued the unfavorable decision.