Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis described the agreement between the Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine on Mount Sinai and the Egyptian state as historic, saying that after 1,500 years in which the Monastery’s legal status had remained unresolved, a solid legal framework was now being established to safeguard in perpetuity its religious character and its ecclesiastical properties.
The agreement also secures the continuity of the Monastery’s operations, the foreign minister noted, by granting the monks long-term residence permits.
“Today is a historic day for Hellenism and Orthodoxy,” Mr Gerapetritis said, noting that “the beacon of Orthodoxy, the Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine on Mount Sinai, is gaining a solid legal foundation through the agreement between the Monastery and the Egyptian state”.
The foreign minister placed particular emphasis on the personal intervention of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in securing the agreement. On behalf of the prime minister and the government, he thanked the Egyptian president, as well as Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, with whom, he said, he shared “deep appreciation and trust”.
Mr Gerapetritis also linked the agreement to the strength of Greek-Egyptian relations, describing it as “the embodiment of a deep strategic relationship, as well as a fraternal relationship between Greece and Egypt, extending across all levels”.
He also made particular mention of the support provided by the Orthodox Churches. The agreement had been “embraced and supported” by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Patriarchate of Alexandria, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Church of Cyprus and the Church of Greece, he noted.
“In troubled times, amid epoch-making changes, the Orthodox faith remains united and a significant legacy for the future of Hellenism,” he said.
The foreign minister concluded by assuring that the Greek government would continue to stand alongside the Ancient Patriarchates and the Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine, citing “deeds that break centuries of inertia, not empty words and hollow promises”, and adding that “responsibility and seriousness are the hallmark of our state”.