Greek delegation arrives in Cairo to discuss St. Catherine’s Monastery issue
Photo: St. Catherine’s Monastery. Source: tripsinegypt
On June 2, 2025, a Greek delegation arrived in Cairo to address the situation concerning the legal status of St. Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai. The delegation includes representatives from the Greek Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Education, Culture, Sports, and Religious Affairs. The visit aims to discuss the monastery’s status with Egyptian authorities, reports Orthodoxia News Agency.
The emergency consultations were prompted by an Egyptian court ruling that questioned the monastery’s ownership rights over its land.
Sources within the Greek delegation emphasized that the ownership status of the monastery is not a matter for local authorities but a national strategic issue.
According to these sources, former regional officials linked to the Muslim Brotherhood had attempted to challenge the monastery’s property rights. This group is known for its hardline stance on religious freedom and the role of Christianity in Muslim-majority countries.
“Let us not forget that it was precisely the now-dismissed officials affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood who were behind the legal pressure on the monastery,” said Archimandrite Porphyrios Frakakos, representative of St. Catherine’s Monastery in Greece.
The main round of talks with Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Aty is scheduled for Wednesday, June 4. Greece hopes the monastery will retain its internationally recognized status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and continue to be one of the most important Christian shrines in the East.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that the Patriarchate of Jerusalem had called on Egypt to safeguard the Sinai monastery.
Read also
The Sumy Diocese of the UOC delivered aid worth 1.25 million hryvnias to children with cancer
Believers and clergy of the Sumy region purchased an expensive neuromyograph and vital medicines for the regional children's hospital.
Odessa Diocese: OCU seized the Alexander Nevsky church using a security firm
OCU supporters, backed by a security agency, forcibly seized a UOC church in Odessa, beating parishioners and priests.
Archons: The Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church attacked the privileges of our Patriarchate
The Archons of the Phanar stated that the Russian Orthodox Church is waging a systematic “disinformation war” against Constantinople.
The roof of the shell-damaged Assumption Cathedral of the Lavra has been covered with film
Conservation work on the roof of the Assumption Cathedral at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra has been completed.
Members of the AUCCRO told the European Commissioner about two Maidan movements
In Brussels, the AUCCRO delegation assured the European Commissioner that the Ukrainian people had definitively chosen the “European path.”
Odesa Eparchy shows how parishioners restored OCU-seized church from ruins
The Odesa Eparchy of the UOC has published archival photographs of the neglected church that believers spent years restoring from ruins.