Protect St. Catherine’s Monastery

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Congressman Gus Bilirakis is leading a bipartisan letter to Secretary Rubio urging the U.S. to act by:

Urge Cairo to respect St. Catherine’s Monastery’s historic custodianship and protect the sanctity of its community.
Oppose UNESCO leadership candidates implicated in undermining World Heritage protections.
Prioritize preservation and autonomy of the world’s oldest Christian monastery.
Defend religious freedom and cultural heritage from state expropriation and exploitation.

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US Representative Gus Bilirakis

View Letter to Secretary Rubio
Read our report UNESCO’s Future Leadership: A Critical Evaluation of Egypt’s Candidacy

Send a Message to Your US Legislators asking them to cosponsor Congressman Bilirakis' Letter to Secretary Rubio.

Send a message to your US Senators & Representative asking them to protect St. Catherine's Monastery.

Subject: Please Cosponsor Rep. Bilirakis’ letter to Sec. Rubio urging action to protect St. Catherine’s Monastery in Egypt

Message:

Greetings, I am writing to urge you to co-sponsor Congressman Gus Bilirakis’ letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio regarding the Egyptian government’s alarming actions against St. Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai. St. Catherine’s is the world’s oldest continuously inhabited Christian monastery and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. For over 1,500 years, it has been self-governed by the Greek Orthodox Diocese of Sinai. Yet today, its autonomy is in jeopardy. In May 2025, an Egyptian appeals court stripped the monastery’s archbishop of land ownership rights, effectively transferring control to the state. Authorities have already bulldozed areas, displaced nearly 4,000 members of the native Jebeleya tribe, forced families to exhume graves, and begun construction of hotels on preserved grounds. Plans would even place icons, manuscripts, relics, and the remains of Saint Catherine under the Ministry of Antiquities, without international safeguards. These actions violate Egypt’s commitments to UNESCO, threaten the integrity of the World Heritage system, and undermine international religious freedom. To make matters worse, Egypt’s nominee for UNESCO Director-General, former Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Anani, has been directly implicated in these policies. I respectfully urge you to: Co-sponsor Rep. Bilirakis’ letter to Secretary Rubio before the October 2nd deadline. Support U.S. leadership in pressing Cairo to respect the Monastery’s historic custodianship and the sanctity of its religious community. Oppose UNESCO leadership candidates who undermine World Heritage protections. St. Catherine’s Monastery is a gift for all humanity. It deserves protection, not expropriation. Thank you for your leadership in defending religious freedom and cultural heritage. Sincerely,

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View Letter to Secretary Rubio

Read our report UNESCO’s Future Leadership: A Critical Evaluation of Egypt’s Candidacy

Send a Message to Your US Legislators asking them to cosponsor Congressman Bilirakis' Letter to Secretary Rubio.

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