Jerusalem, August 4, 2025
Photo: jerusalem-patriarchate.info The Patriarch of Jerusalem has officially responded to the deepening crisis at St. Catherine’s Monastery on Mt. Sinai, announcing plans to send a three-member delegation to mediate the conflict between the monastery’s longtime abbot and 15 monks.
In a formal letter to His Eminence Archbishop Damianos of Sinai, the abbot of St. Catherine’s Monastery, His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III acknowledged the Patriarchate’s “spiritual and canonical jurisdiction over the Patriarchal and Stavropegial Monastery of Sinai” and expressed readiness to initiate “the appropriate ecclesiastical procedure” to resolve the crisis.
The Patriarch’s intervention comes after 15 monks at the ancient monastery voted to depose the 91-year-old Abp. Damianos, who has served as abbot for over five decades. The monks’ move came just after Greek authorities passed legislation to protect the monastery from Egyptian legal challenges that threaten its 1,500-year presence at the sacred site, though their letter announcing their decision doesn’t explain their grievance.
The Patriarch emphasized that any resolution must proceed “through the recognized canonical path and under the pastoral care of the Throne of the Church of Zion.” He assured Archbishop Damianos that the Patriarchate would work “in a spirit of truth, reconciliation, and cooperation with the Brotherhood of Sinai” toward “a desirable and peaceful resolution.”
The delegation’s mission will be particularly delicate, as the monastery faces dual crises. External pressure comes from Egypt’s Ismailia Court of Appeals ruling in May 2025 that has been interpreted as threatening the monastery’s property rights. Internally, the monks’ attempted removal of their abbot has created what Abp. Damianos called activities that “scandalize the faithful people of God” and “undermine the unity of the brotherhood.”
The monastery, which sits at the foot of Mt. Sinai where Moses received the Ten Commandments, houses approximately 20 monks and represents one of Orthodoxy’s most ancient and revered sites.
Read the full text of Pat. Theophilos’ letter to Abp. Damianos:
With spiritual concern and attentive reading, we have received Your Eminence’s letter addressed to the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, by which you express your desire that the Patriarchate assume spiritual and canonical responsibility for the management of the pressing issue concerning the ecclesiastical status of the Holy Monastery of Sinai.
This appeal constitutes a clear acknowledgment that, in accordance with the Holy Canons and the unshakable Tradition of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem bears the spiritual and canonical jurisdiction over the Patriarchal and Stavropegial Monastery of Sinai. From this it becomes evident that any honorable reconciliation sought can proceed only through the recognized canonical path and under the pastoral care of the Throne of the Church of Zion.
We value in the Lord this expression of trust and ecclesiastical discernment on your part, and in sincere response to the invitation of Your Eminence, we hereby affirm that the Patriarchate of Jerusalem is prepared to initiate the appropriate ecclesiastical procedure. A three-member delegation shall be sent to you so that, in a spirit of truth, reconciliation, and cooperation with the Brotherhood of Sinai, every possible effort may be made toward a desirable and peaceful resolution of the issue that has arisen.
We have already communicated with Your Eminence by telephone to assure you that we remain watchful and prayerful, that “neither tribulation, nor distress” (Romans 8:35) may overcome you, but that the grace of God may fill and illumine every undertaking.
From the Most Holy and Life-giving Tomb, we pray that the Chief Shepherd Christ may inspire us all towards what is true and good, and that the God-trodden land of Sinai may continue to bear witness to holiness, humility, and a peaceful ascent toward God.
With the Patriarchal blessings and highest regards,
† THEOPHILOS III Patriarch of Jerusalem
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