Church of Sinai

The Church of Sinai is an autonomous Greek Orthodox Christian Church whose territory consists of St. Catherine's Monastery (which is located on the Sinai peninsula at the foot of Mount Sinai in Egypt), along with several dependencies. The church is headed by an archbishop who is traditionally consecrated by the Patriarch of Jerusalem and also serves as abbot for the monastery. The current hierarch is His Beatitude, Archbishop Damian.

History

The Church of Sinai owes its existence to the Monastery of the Transfiguration (better known as St Catherine's Monastery). The monastery's origins are traced back to the Chapel of the Burning Bush that Emperor Constantine I's mother, Helen, had built over the site where Moses is supposed to have seen the burning bush. Between 527 and 565, Emperor Justinian I ordered the monastery built to enclose the chapel. The monastery became associated with St. Catherine of Alexandria through the belief that her relics were miraculously transported there.

Locations of interest

• The Chapel of Our Lady of the Oikonomos, Sinai, Egypt
• Monastery of the Temptation, Palestinian National Authority

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External Links

• Contact information
• "The Orthodox Church of Mount Sinai" by Ronald Roberson on the CNEWA website.