Greek political dispute over Saint Catherine Monastery

A political controversy has emerged in Greece regarding the government’s handling of the Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai. Opposition lawmaker Petros Polakis initially challenged Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerepetritis, alleging that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs pressured the monastery’s leadership to sign an undisclosed agreement with Egypt. Polakis claimed the government used the threat of an imminent Egyptian court decision regarding ownership to force compliance, despite evidence suggesting no trial date had been set.

Following these allegations, the PASOK-Movement for Change party criticized Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s stance on the matter. Party spokesperson Kostas Tsoukalas questioned the distinction between the monastery’s religious character and its property rights, noting that the Egyptian government had directly challenged the monastery’s ownership for the first time in 1,500 years.

Expanding on these criticisms, PASOK officials, including MEP Nikolas Farantouris and spokesperson Kostas Tsoukalas, are demanding the release of the full text of the pending agreement. The party argues that the government’s celebratory tone regarding the monastery’s religious character and exclusive use of worship spaces masks unresolved legal issues. PASOK maintains that the agreement must be made public before signing to allow for a proper assessment of its impact on the historic institution’s property status and operation, emphasizing that the Sinai Monastic Community is the only authority capable of finalizing such an arrangement.