Egyptian authorities closely follow Deir El Sultan’s incident, Pope

CAIRO – 25 October 2018: Head of the Coptic Orthodox Church Pope Tawadros II said Wednesday that the Egyptian foreign Ministry represented in the Egyptian embassy in Israel is closely following the Sultan Monastery incident in Jerusalem.

The Pope denounced in press statements the Israeli authorities’ violations against the Egyptian Coptic religious men, calling them “against human rights”. The Pope stressed out that the Monastery’s ownership belongs to the Egyptian Coptic church according to recognized judicial verdicts.

Pope Tawadros II pointed out that the Israeli authorities have illegally transferred the monastery’s ownership to the Ethiopian Church back in 1970 as a result for political calculations. Ethiopian priests have been living in the monastery since then, according to the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church.



The current incident broke out when Egyptian priests residing in the monastery decided to peacefully protest on October 23 a recent Israeli decision to start the restoration of the monastery without the Egyptian church’s consent. Israeli security forces violently dispersed the peaceful protest.

In the same context, Members of the Egyptian Parliament strongly condemned the Israeli assault on the peaceful Egyptian priests in Jerusalem.

Spokesman for the House of Representatives Salah Hasaballah called on the international community to take action and stop Israeli crimes against a number of fathers and deacons of Sultan Monastery in Jerusalem's Old City.

In a statement, Hasaballah said the Israeli occupation authorities do not respect international legitimacy and defy the international community by violating the sanctity of the Church of Deir El Sultan Monastery affiliated to the Egyptian Orthodox Church in Jerusalem.

Al Azhar issued a statement Wednesday on which it deplored Israeli authorities assault on