RFI’s Paul Marshall wrote an article in ReligionUnplugged this week on the complex status of the historic Saint Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai, as an Egyptian court recently ruled that the monastery grounds are Egyptian state property. He writes:

Much of the Christian world, especially the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, has been roiled by reports that an Egyptian court has mandated that St. Catherine’s Monastery be taken over by the government.

This issue is especially explosive because St. Catherine’s is arguably Christianity’s most important monastery — but the situation also appears to be complex.

This great monastery lies in the Sinai desert at the foot of what church tradition holds is Mount Horeb, also called Mount Sinai, where God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses. It was built in the sixth century during the reign of the Emperor Justinian when the area was part of the Roman/Byzantine Empire.

It is an enthralling place. Apart from its connections to God’s revelation at Sinai, one of the trees within its walls is reputed to be the burning bush from which God spoke to Moses and it is also said to contain the Well of Moses.

Beyond these spiritually significant sites, it also houses one of the world’s oldest libraries, and its collection of ancient documents is unrivaled. One text long held there is the Codex Sinaiticus, a fourth-century manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old Testament and the oldest complete copy in the world of the New Testament.

Read the full article: “Is Egypt’s Government Trying To Take Over Christianity’s Most Important Monastery?“