Following a wave of controversy over reports that authorities in Egypt's South Sinai governorate were seeking to confiscate the historic Saint Catherine Monastery, administratively affiliated with the Greek Orthodox Church, and seize its lands, President ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ al-Sīsī assured Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Friday (May 30) of "Egypt's full commitment to preserving the unique and sacred religious status of Saint Catherine Monastery and to ensuring that this status is not violated."