St Catherine’s Monastery (Photo: Berthold Werner)
An organisation that defends the rights of Coptic Christians in Egypt has called upon the international community to protect St Catherine’s monastery.
The historic site is the oldest continuously functioning monastery in the world.
Rights group Coptic Solidarity also wants the appointment of Egypt’s former Minister of Antiquities as head of UNESCO to be reconsidered.
Earlier this year an Egyptian court ruled that ownership of the land the monastery is built on – at the foot of Mt Sinai – be transferred to the Egyptian government.
Coptic Solidarity is now warning that the Egyptian government may be on the verge of coming to an agreement that would transfer control of the 1,500-year-old monastery from the Brotherhood of Sinai Fathers to the Egyptian government. Greece, which has historically defended the rights of the monastery, is allegedly not opposing the deal.
In a statement, Coptic Solidarity warned, “Such a move would strip the monastery of its self-governing status and bring it under Egyptian custodianship. Once this shift occurs, it cannot be undone — autonomy would give way to symbolism.”
The group also took issue with former antiquities minister, Dr Khaled El-Anany, who is due to take the head of UNESCO on 7 November. The group accuses Dr El-Anany of overseeing “policies linked to the demolition of parts of Cairo’s historic necropolis and large-scale tourism projects around St Catherine’s — developments that permanently altered the site’s character”.
Caroline Dross, President of Coptic Solidarity, said, “It is unacceptable that the same official who facilitated the destruction of protected heritage sites now seeks to lead the very institution charged with defending them.
“This moment is a test of UNESCO’s moral credibility — and of the international community’s willingness to defend world heritage from political capture.”
As well as challenging the appointment of Dr El-Anany, Coptic Solidarity appealed to the Vatican, UNESCO, the EU, the US and other interested parties to uphold St Catherine’s historic autonomy and to hold Egypt accountable.
