Egyptian FM Provides Assurances Over Historic Sinai Monastery

Assurances that the Greek Orthodox nature of the historic and ancient St. Catherine’s Monastery of Sinai will be safeguarded were aired on Wednesday after a closely watched meeting in Athens between the Greek and Egyptian foreign ministers.

In his statements during a joint press conference, Egyptian Minister Badr Abdelatty provided verbal assurances to the Greek side, which has essentially emerged as the monastery’s interlocutor with the Egyptian state, all in the wake of an Egyptian appeals court decision last May threatening the very existence of the venerable Christian Orthodox institution.

Nevertheless, the meeting between Abdelatty and Greek FM George Gerapetritis did not include the signing of any bilateral agreement over the Sinai Monastery’s status, with the former merely noting that such an agreement will soon be forthcoming – and between Egyptian authorities and the monastery’s brotherhood of monks, legally represented by the autonomous Greek Orthodox Church of Sinai.