“This we cannot allow,” declared the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Ieronymos, in response to the unprecedented decision to close the historic Monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai. “I cannot and do not want to believe that today Hellenism and Orthodoxy are experiencing yet another historical ‘fall,’” he emphasized in a statement. The Archbishop highlighted that the monastery’s property is being seized and nationalized, placing this spiritual beacon of Orthodoxy and Hellenism in grave danger of survival.
The Egyptian government has decided to dissolve all legal concepts and effectively attempt to erase the very existence of the monastery by terminating its entire operation, including its religious, spiritual, and cultural work. In his detailed statement, Archbishop Ieronymos condemned the scandalous decision made by the Egyptian judiciary, which violated human and religious freedoms. This action threatens the world’s oldest Orthodox Christian monument, plunging it into a period reminiscent of darker times.
The Egyptian government’s move contradicts recent assurances from the Egyptian president to the Greek prime minister. The Archbishop calls on every Greek and international authority to recognize the extreme risk and act immediately to protect the fundamental religious freedoms of the Holy Monastery of Sinai. He strongly condemns any effort to change the status quo that has existed for 15 centuries and appeals directly to the Greek government and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to take urgent action. Archbishop Ieronymos expresses unwavering solidarity with the brotherhood and abbot of the monastery, as well as the Greek monks serving sacrificially in the broader Sinai region. Ultimately, he asserts that Hellenism and Orthodoxy must not endure another historical ‘fall,’ and this cannot be permitted.