Today is a historic day for Hellenism and Orthodoxy. The beacon of Orthodoxy, the Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine of Mount Sinai, is acquiring a solid legal foundation through the agreement between the Monastery and the Egyptian State. After 1,500 years during which the Monastery’s legal status remained uncertain and unregulated, today’s agreement ensures, in perpetuity, the preservation of the Monastery’s religious character and that of its ecclesiastical properties, as well as the continuity of the Monastery through the granting of long-term residence permits to its monks.
I would particularly like to thank, on behalf of the Prime Minister and the Government, the President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, whose personal intervention made this agreement possible, as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt, Badr Abdelatty, with whom we enjoy a relationship of deep mutual respect and trust. Today’s agreement is the embodiment of a profound strategic relationship, but also of a fraternal relationship between Greece and Egypt, extending across all fields.
Today is also a day that sends a message of unity for Orthodoxy. The agreement was embraced and supported by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Patriarchate of Alexandria, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Church of Cyprus and the Church of Greece. In difficult times, amid seismic changes, the Orthodox Faith remains united and constitutes a valuable legacy for the future of Hellenism.
The Greek Government has stood, and will continue to stand, by our Greek Orthodox Ancient Patriarchates and the Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine, through concrete actions that break centuries of inertia, rather than through hollow rhetoric and empty words, because responsibility and seriousness are the hallmarks of our State.
October 24, 2026