The Holy Community of Mount Athos has called for the historic and legal status of St. Catherine’s Monastery on the Sinai Peninsula to remain unchanged, amid ongoing negotiations between Greece and Egypt over the monastery’s future.

A letter signed by representatives and abbots of all 20 monasteries of Mount Athos was published by the Greek Orthodox news agency Romfea.

The Athonite monks addressed the newly elected Archbishop of Sinai and Abbot of St. Catherine’s Monastery, Simeon. Alongside congratulations on his election, they expressed concern over reports that the monastery’s property and institutional status could be altered.

The concerns center on reports of a possible “dual ownership” arrangement. Under the scenario reportedly being discussed, ownership of the monastery and its historic property would pass to the Egyptian state, while the Sinai Brotherhood would retain rights of use.

The Holy Community of Mount Athos firmly rejected such an arrangement. Its letter stresses that ownership and the right of use are not equivalent and argues that replacing historical ownership rights with a temporary or state-granted right of use would effectively alter the monastery’s existing status.

“The historical, monastic, institutional, legal and property status of the monastery must remain unchanged,” the Athonite representatives said in their appeal.

The monks also pointed to the monastery’s centuries-old position under different governments and legal systems. The letter specifically refers to documents from the Islamic and Ottoman periods that, according to its authors, recognized and protected the rights of the Sinai Brotherhood.

The statement draws a parallel between Sinai and Mount Athos, describing them as two of the oldest surviving monastic institutions with distinctive historical statuses. The Athonite community refers to Sinai as the “Athos of the first millennium” and warns that any change to its status could establish a precedent affecting other ancient monasteries, patriarchates and Christian holy sites in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, negotiations between Greece and Egypt over the monastery’s status are continuing. According to Makedonika Nea, Greek government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said that a preliminary understanding had been reached following Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ visit to Egypt.

Marinakis said the arrangements are now being considered directly by St. Catherine’s Monastery. As a result, no final decision on the monastery’s future legal and property status has yet been made.

The dispute has drawn particular attention across the Orthodox world because of St. Catherine’s Monastery’s exceptional antiquity and its longstanding role as a major center of Christian monasticism in the Sinai.