St. Catherine’s Monastery, located in the Sinai Desert in Egypt, has been a sacred Christian site since the 500s. Even after the Islamic Conquest, the monastery’s monks had warm relations with Mohammad, who wrote a letter granting protection to the monastery, which has helped maintain St. Catherine’s independence for many hundreds of years.

But lately, that protection has eroded. A court has just ruled that the property should be owned by the state. This led to fears that the monks were going to be turned out and the site expropriated as a tourist attraction (as distinguished from a pilgrimage destination). From the Greek City Times:

Ownership of the monastery and all its assets is now transferred to the Egyptian state. The monks are required to vacate specific properties, where they are no longer permitted access, and are allowed to remain in the monastery to fulfill their religious duties only for as long as the new owner—the Egyptian state—permits.

Not good.

At least the immediate removal aspect of the story seems to have been exaggerated. From the Egypt Independent story:

The Egyptian presidency has reaffirmed its full commitment to preserving the unique and sacred religious status of St. Catherine’s Monastery in South Sinai, ensuring this status remains untouched.

But . . . it does appear that the property itself — as distinguished from its continued use (for now) by the monks — is being expropriated:

Recently, the Ismailia Court of Appeal’s “El Tor Circuit” issued its ruling on the lawsuit concerning the disputed land plots between the South Sinai Governorate and St. Catherine’s Monastery. The court affirmed the right of those affiliated with St. Catherine’s Monastery to utilize the monastery and the archaeological religious sites in the St. Catherine area, with the state retaining ownership of these sites as public property.

Again, not good. This means that the monastery is no longer truly independent, and its continued existence as a place of Christian worship and monastic life depends on the government’s forbearance. If the Egyptian government moves in a more Islamist direction, the monks could well find themselves on the streets (so to speak).

That is a tenuous protection at best. I’ve been to Cairo and toured the Coptic Quarter. It had to be protected by the Egyptian Army. Coptic monasteries are also under pressure in the country.

We have witnessed eroding religious tolerance among Islamists for sacred Christian heritage sites in recent years. When I visited Hagia Sophia in Istanbul some years ago — the great Orthodox cathedral and one of the architectural wonders of its time — it was a museum (thanks to Atatürk’s secularization of Turkey). But the Islamists now in charge of Turkey returned Hagia Sophia to its former status (after the conquest of Constantinople) as a mosque. This, even though the huge and historic Blue Mosque is directly adjacent to the location.

The Christian aspects in the cathedral have not been destroyed (yet) but are covered during Muslim services. But again, that is a step back from religious tolerance and, at best, a tenuous protection for the cathedral’s sacred Christian icons and relics.

The fate of St. Catherine’s is of greater importance than the fate of this particular holy site and its resident monks. Religious freedom is one of the most important human rights. That should not only include the right to worship freely, but the right to maintain sacred sites, even in areas dominated by different faiths.

I hope that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the State Department’s Ambassador at Large for Religious Freedom explicitly speak out in support of the independence of St. Catherine’s and that the Egyptian government works to reverse this ruling and return ownership of the property to the Greek Orthodox Church. The monks of St. Catherine’s deserve the right to live independently in worshipful peace.