Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will attend the ecclesiastical enthronement of the new Archbishop of Sinai, Pharan and Raithu, Symeon, on Friday at the historic St. Catherine Monastery in the southern Sinai Peninsula.
The then Archimandrite Symeon Papadopoulos was elected as the new archbishop by the monastery’s brotherhood of monks earlier this month and ordained as archbishop on Oct. 19 at the catholicon (main cathedral) of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
The Archdiocese of Sinai, which revolves around the 6th century Orthodox Christian monastery, is under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, although it is in Egyptian territory. The Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa, which also follows the Greek Orthodox tradition, is based in Egypt.
Tourists look at exhibits at the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), which is scheduled to officially open on November 1, 2025, following a partial opening last year, in Giza, Egypt, June 2, 2025. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
On Saturday, the Greek leader will attend the inauguration of the emblematic Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) in Giza, while on Sunday he will travel to Cyprus to attend a memorial service for the late president of Cyprus Glafkos Clerides at the Apostle Barnabas Cathedral in Nicosia.
File photo: Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, right, greets Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Athens.
