ISTANBUL (RNS) — As news filtered out of Egypt on Thursday (May 29) that a court ruling had called for nationalizing an ancient Orthodox Christian Monastery in the Sinai Desert and the eviction of its monks to make way for a museum, disbelief turned to outrage, from the Middle East to Greece, where politicians blasted the decision.
St. Catherine’s Monastery, which is inhabited by Greek Orthodox monks in Egypt, is considered to be the world’s oldest continuously operating Christian monastery. Established in the 6th century by order of Byzantine emperor Justinian I, St. Catherine’s lies at the foot of the mountain Christians identify as the biblical Mount Sinai and hosts a vast library that harbors priceless manuscripts and icons.
The monastery, whose right to function undisturbed is said to have been granted by the Prophet Muhammed, is a symbol of interfaith tolerance and Christian longevity in the Muslim world.
Egypt’s presidency has denied reports that the court ordered the monastery to be shuttered, noting that the ruling confirms the right of the monks to perform their religious duties at the monastery while also declaring its lands are now the property of the Egyptian state.
But the clarification came only after a flurry of statements from Christian leaders and Greek politicians.
Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and All Greece called the news “an act of violent infringement upon human and religious rights,” saying that “this spiritual lighthouse o …