On Thursday, June 26, 2025, the President of the Hellenic Parliament, Nikitas Kaklamanis, met with the Archbishop Damianos of Sinai, Pharan and Raitho; the Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai.
After expressing his concern over recent developments regarding the legal status of the monastery, the president emphasized that safeguarding the spiritual and liturgical character of the oldest Orthodox Christian monument is a priority for the Hellenic Parliament and Orthodoxy as a whole.
“Just a few days after the terrorist attack on the Greek Orthodox Church of Prophet Elijah in Damascus, I express my deepest sorrow for the victims of the church in Syria,” he continued. He stressed that “we are living in a time when Orthodoxy is under multiple assaults, and it is our duty to protect and support sacred places of worship and religious reverence.”
The Archbishop informed the President of the Parliament about the actions taken thus far and the latest developments concerning the monastery. He also thanked the President for his support and sensitivity in response to the violations of human and religious freedoms.
Archbishop Damianos of Sinai, Pharan, and Raitho and Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai, was accompanied by Archimandrite Porphyrios Fragakos and legal advisor Christos Kompileris.
Also present at the meeting were the Head of the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy, Maximos Charakopoulos; members Georgios Karasmanis, Theofilos Leontaridis, Apostolos Pappas, and Charalambos Mamoulakis; the Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee on National Defense and Foreign Affairs; and the Diplomatic Advisor to the President. Dimitris Kairidis; the chairman of the standing committee on educational affairs, Christodoulos Stefanadis; the secretary general of the parliament, Vasileios Bagiokos; and the diplomatic advisor to the president, ambassador Konstantinos Oikonomidis.
Translated by Ioanna Georgakopoulou
