Holy Synod of Jerusalem Patriarchate deposes Archbishop Damianos of Sinai

Monastery of Saint Catherine on Mount Sinai and Archbishop Damianos. Photo: Orthodoxia News Agency

On September 8, 2025, a session of the Holy Synod of the Jerusalem Patriarchate was held in Jerusalem, where a decision was made to depose Archbishop Damianos of Sinai, Pharan, and Raitho. This was reported by Orthodoxia News Agency.

According to the Patriarchate’s statement, the Synod took into account the decision of the Sinai Brotherhood on July 30 to suspend the hierarch from his duties, as well as his own letter expressing the intention to resign. By the decision of the Synod, Damianos’ title will officially change to “former Archbishop of Sinai, Pharan, and Raitho” as of September 12, 2025 – the date he himself had announced for his resignation.

The Archbishop was invited to attend the Synod session but did not appear, as he was in Athens. The Patriarchate noted that this decision was related not only to his request for voluntary resignation but also to certain “canonical violations.”

The statement emphasized that Patriarch Theophilos III showed leniency toward the advanced age of the archbishop and a desire “to normalize the life of Saint Catherine’s Monastery on Sinai” and to prepare the ground for the canonical election of a new primate.

The Synod also appealed to the brethren of the Sinai Monastery to begin the process of electing a new archbishop and announced prayers for Damianos, that he may be granted “long life and blessing from the Most Holy and Life-Giving Tomb of the Lord.”

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the abbot of the Sinai Monastery had announced his resignation.

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