The ordination of Archimandrite Symeon Papadopoulos as the new Archbishop of Mount Sinai and Raithu — and consequently as abbot of the historic Monastery of St. Catherine — is taking place today at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The ceremony is being led by Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem, in the presence of Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis.
Archbishop Symeon was unanimously elected last month by the brotherhood of monks at St. Catherine’s Monastery, one of Christianity’s most revered institutions and the oldest continuously inhabited Christian monastery in the world. His election, with 19 votes out of 20, marks the end of a period of internal tension within the Sinai community following the declining health of his predecessor, 91-year-old Archbishop Damianos, who now retains the honorary title of Elder Archbishop of Sinai.
The election is widely viewed as a unifying moment for the brotherhood, which had been divided in recent years amid disputes surrounding the monastery’s administration and a controversial Egyptian court decision that had cast uncertainty over its legal status.
Born and raised in the port city of Piraeus, Archbishop Symeon previously served as director of a Church-run home for the elderly in the Tambouria district and, until his election, oversaw the monastery’s property at Alepochori, northwest of Athens. A graduate of theology and Greek literature, he has also served as chief librarian at St. Catherine’s, which houses one of the world’s most significant collections of manuscripts and ecclesiastical texts.
The Monastery of St. Catherine, located at the foot of Mount Sinai in Egypt, is revered across the Christian world as a site of immense spiritual and historical significance. The appointment of Archbishop Symeon signals a new chapter in the monastery’s long and storied history — one that continues to bridge faith, scholarship, and cultural heritage.
