Greece's Foreign Ministry is moving to diplomatically freeze an Egyptian court ruling against St. Catherine's Monastery ...

Greece's Foreign Ministry is moving to diplomatically freeze an Egyptian court ruling against St. Catherine's Monastery in Sinai, as both sides edge toward a formal agreement on the monastery's status, operating framework, and properties. The push came after Archbishop Symeon of Sinai reported that understandings with Egyptian authorities had been reached. Greece is now drafting a letter to Cairo stating its intention to sign a deal, while simultaneously requesting a freeze on the court ruling process until that agreement is formally signed. The Standing Holy Synod of the Church of Greece convened in an extraordinary session to address the situation, with Symeon joining by video link. The Synod voted unanimously to back him and authorize him to take the steps needed to finalize an agreement. Georgios Kalantzis, Secretary General for Religious Affairs at the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, attended the session and briefed the Synod on how the Greek government has been handling the matter. Symeon reportedly acknowledged that Egyptian court decisions have weakened Greece's negotiating position, and the benefits of settling out of court before Egypt's Court of Cassation issues a final ruling were laid out plainly. Support for Symeon from both the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Patriarchate of Jerusalem was also noted. A complicating factor: a letter from former Archbishop Damianos, who was forcibly removed from the monastery last year, was read to the Synod. Damianos expressed his disapproval of any agreement between the monastery and the Egyptian state. St. Catherine's is one of the oldest continuously operating monasteries in the world, dating to the 6th century. An Egyptian court ruled last year that the state owns all of the monastery's nonreligious lands, threatening its historic autonomy and setting off a diplomatic standoff between Cairo and Athens. #StCatherines #Greece #Egypt