International appeal to UNESCO to protect Sinai Monastery published

St. Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai. Photo: Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt

On June 13, 2025, the Friends of Mount Sinai Monastery announced the launch of an international initiative to protect Saint Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai, which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage list. This was reported by the UOJ website in America.

Participants of the initiative sent an official letter to the Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, expressing a "final appeal for institutional intervention" on behalf of the international community. The signatories emphasize that it is not just the future of the monastery at stake but also the future of the entire system of international cultural heritage protection.

“If your office does not respond decisively to this clear violation of every justification for protection, you risk setting a global precedent for the ‘neutralization of heritage’ – the dismantling of international protection by an internal state bureaucratic decree,” the letter states.

Archbishop Damianos of Sinai, who has served as archbishop since 1973 and is abbot of the monastery, expressed support for the initiative. In a letter on behalf of the entire brotherhood, he noted that preserving the nearly two-thousand-year tradition of monasticism on Sinai is not only a matter of history but also of fidelity to the Divine will.

"We perceive your initiative as a gift of the Holy Spirit, especially as it was made known to us on the feast of Holy Pentecost," Archbishop Damianos's appeal states.

In his message, he noted that monasticism on Sinai dates back to the 3rd century when the first monks fled persecution and gathered near the site of the Burning Bush and the Well of Moses. The archbishop also recalled the historical act – the Deed of Covenant known as the Achtiname of the Prophet Muhammad, granted to the fathers of the monastery in 623, which contains a call to all Muslims to protect Christians and their shrines as an expression of obedience to the Divine will.

"May the merciful God always bless those who uphold His divine Will," concludes Archbishop Damianos in his appeal.

You can join the initiative and sign the appeal at this link.

As the UOJ reported, the Archbishop of Sinai called on Greece to protect the Monastery of Saint Catherine.

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