Greek Orthodox monastery on Mount Sinai: trying to make sense of the quarrel

[BartholomewB]

Just in case anyone else here is feeling as baffled as I am by all the denials and counter-denials coming out of Athens and Cairo about the alleged claim of an Egyptian government agency to ownership of the historic St. Catherine’s monastery on Mount Sinai, this may help to clear things up a bit.

Luke Coppen in The Pillar has produced the clearest statement I've seen so far of what, exactly, is going on in the South Sinai local government and in the national government in Cairo. In this telling snippet he provides the background that shows what makes it so hard to disentangle:

On May 28, the Egyptian Court of Appeals issued a ruling widely interpreted as declaring the monastery state property, while recognizing the monks’ right to perform their religious duties at the site.

But the 160-page text was of such complexity that even legal professionals struggled to grasp it fully.

A spokesman said the Greek government was still processing the ruling five days later, “because it includes not only titles and explanatory opinions, but also extremely complex legal reasoning in the Arabic language.”

What’s happening at Egypt’s St Catherine’s Monastery?

A controversial court ruling over the ownership of the ancient monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai has caused outcry.

www.pillarcatholic.com

 

[po18guy]

A bona fide mess.

 

[vz71]

I still do not understand why the government of Egypt wants the land.

 

[BartholomewB]

I still do not understand why the government of Egypt wants the land.

It may be no more than somebody’s conjecture, but on one website there was a suggestion that the government is giving way to pressure from the Muslim Brotherhood.

 

[DaveBj]

I still do not understand why the government of Egypt wants the land.

Having spent some time in Egypt, I can only say that your guess is as good as anyone else's.

 

[po18guy]

I have little to no knowledge of Arabic. However, from its manifestion, it would appear that it has at least as much power to obscure and conceal as to reveal.

 

[DaveBj]

I have little to no knowledge of Arabic. However, from its manifestion, it would appear that it has at least as much power to obscure and conceal as to reveal.

I have enough classroom hours in Arabic to have earned a B.A. in the language, if they had all been at one institution and in one program. I can affirm that you are 100% correct.

 

[po18guy]

I still do not understand why the government of Egypt wants the land.

The government-involved assassination of Anwar Sadat looms ominously in the Egyptian mindset.

 

[BartholomewB]

CNA's latest update includes this:

Behind the scenes, some believe the controversy stems from the “Great Transfiguration” project, launched in 2021 by the Egyptian president to turn the St. Catherine area into a fully integrated tourist destination. Critics argue that the plan threatens the site’s sacred monastic character. Others, however, view the ruling as a matter of Egyptian sovereignty, intended to prevent the monastery from evolving into an independent entity, something akin to a “new Vatican.”

www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/264561/monks-close-doors-of-st-catherine-monastery-as-battle-with-egypt-government-continues

 

[po18guy]

We exist in a world rife with "concern" abut this or that.