“We cannot allow this to happen,” stressed Archbishop Ieronymos, expressing deep sorrow and justified indignation – He called on Greek and international authorities to act – A direct appeal to the Prime Minister not to allow the Monastery to be abolished.
Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece has strongly condemned the decision by Egyptian authorities to effectively “shut down” the historic Monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai. Expressing his “profound sorrow and justified outrage,” he called on all Greek and international bodies to take immediate action, stressing that “the Monastery’s property is being seized and expropriated, and this spiritual beacon of Orthodoxy and Hellenism now faces a true existential threat.”
“I do not want to believe—and I cannot believe—that today Hellenism and Orthodoxy are experiencing yet another historic ‘fall’,” the Archbishop declared, emphasizing that “this is something we cannot allow to happen.”
He accused the Egyptian government of acting in contradiction to the Egyptian President’s recent commitments to the Greek Prime Minister, saying it “has abolished every notion of justice and is essentially attempting to erase the very existence of the Monastery in one stroke—nullifying its operation, its worship and spiritual mission, as well as its cultural role.”
“I call on all Greek and international authorities to recognize the gravity of what is at stake and to intervene immediately to safeguard the fundamental religious freedoms of the Holy Monastery of Sinai,” he said, adding:
“I unequivocally condemn any attempt to alter the status quo that has existed for 15 centuries in the region, and I make a direct appeal to the responsible Greek government—and personally to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis—to take all necessary steps so that the legal and canonical order is restored and the Holy Monastery is not effectively abolished.”
Full Statement by Archbishop Ieronymos
“Following yesterday’s outrageous decision—an act of violent violation of human and specifically religious freedoms—issued by the judicial authorities of Egypt, the oldest Orthodox Christian monument in the world, the Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine at the God-trodden Mount Sinai, is now entering a great ordeal, one that echoes darker times…
In essence, the Egyptian government has decided—despite recent contrary commitments made by the Egyptian President to the Greek Prime Minister—to nullify all sense of justice and to attempt to erase the very existence of the Monastery. It seeks to dismantle its operation, its liturgical and spiritual mission, and its cultural heritage.
The Monastery’s assets are being seized and expropriated, and this spiritual beacon of Orthodoxy and Hellenism is now facing a real survival crisis.
With deep sorrow and rightful anger, I call on all Greek and international authorities to recognize the enormous stakes involved and to immediately act for the protection of the fundamental religious freedoms of the Holy Monastery of Sinai.
I categorically condemn any attempt to change the regime that has been in place in this region for 15 centuries. I appeal directly to the Greek Government—and personally to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis—to take immediate and appropriate action to restore legal and canonical order and prevent the effective abolition of the Holy Monastery.
I wholeheartedly express my fraternal solidarity both with the Brotherhood of the Monastery and its Abbot, His Eminence Archbishop Damianos of Sinai and Raitho, as well as with the Greek brethren who serve sacrificially in the broader Sinai region.
Finally, I do not want to—and cannot—believe that today Hellenism and Orthodoxy are undergoing yet another historic ‘fall’. This we cannot allow.”
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