Medicines, food, blankets, clothing, army boots as well as an electric generator will be offered by the Ministry of National Defence to the Holy Monastery of Sinai.

The Minister of National Defence Mr. Panos Panagiotopoulos responded to the request made by the Archbishop of Mount Sinai, Faran and Raithu Mr. Damianos, with whom he met today.

During the meeting, which took place at the Minister’s office, matters relating to the Holy Monastery of Sinai and the Archdiocesan district of South Sinai were discussed.

After the meeting, Mr. Panagiotopoulos, having underlined in his statement that in the desert of Sinai, in the Holy Monastery of St. Catherine, the monks keep an Orthodox tradition which counts thousands of years, he reassured the Archbishop that despite the difficulties experienced by our country as far as financial matters are concerned, the Ministry will provide every possible assistance to the Holy Monastery of St. Catherine at Sinai, acknowledging its constant humanitarian efforts.

On his side, the Archbishop of Sinai Damianos, having stressed out that in the 52 years of his presence in this area he has conceived the concept of great spiritual Greece that escapes the narrow limits of Greek territory, he thanked the Minister for his personnal interest, but also for the Greek Government’s interest for the Monastery and –as he said– he wishes for and prays for Greece, the Greeks and, of course, the Defence he characterized as every country’s backbone. Finally, he wished that the practical and financial difficulties Greece faces will be overcome so as to come up as winners.