Detailed: Egypt and the Greek Orthodox Church’s Dispute Over Saint Catherine’s Monastery

Detailed: Egypt and the Greek Orthodox Church’s Dispute Over Saint Catherine’s Monastery

A legal ruling by Egypt’s Ismailia Administrative Appeal Court on 28 May ignited tensions between the state and the Greek Orthodox Church, after judges affirmed government ownership of land beneath the centuries-old Saint Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai while upholding the monks’ right to use it for religious purposes.  The decision was seen by many within the Church as a threat to the monastery’s longstanding autonomy, and a potential step towar…

Bishop Strickland: Statement on the Egyptian court ruling against St. Catherine's Monastery

'I urge the Egyptian authorities to recognize that true peace and coexistence can only flourish where spiritual freedom is honored,' writes Bishop Strickland.

Egypt Must Not Confiscate St. Catherine’s Monastery

It has now been a month since Egyptian courts have ordered the confiscation of St. Catherine’s Monastery in the Sinai Peninsula, the world’s oldest continuously inhabited Christian monastery. If enforced, the ruling will lead to the eviction of the Greek Orthodox monks who have lived there since the sixth century. This is not merely an outrage—it is a grotesque violation of Egypt’s solemn… Source