Long-serving abbot Damianos steps down as Saint Catherine’s Monastery prepares vote

Archbishop Damianos connected Friday resigned from some the abbotship and the archdiocese of Saint Catherine’s Monastery connected Mount Sinai, Egypt, amid a lingering powerfulness struggle.

Damianos had served arsenic caput of the monastery for much than 5 decades. His resignation was anticipated, arsenic helium had antecedently indicated helium would step down connected Friday. A vote to elite a caller archbishop is scheduled for Sunday, though Damianos has said helium will not be for wellness reasons.

In a statement, helium expressed the anticipation that the monks would elite the astir due successor, calling for “unity and support from everyone, distant from idiosyncratic ambitions and obsessions.”

Earlier connected Friday, it was announced by the monks who had opposed Damianos and stay within the monastery that they had withdrawn ineligible actions they had filed against the monks supporting the outgoing abbot. These pending lawsuits had antecedently prevented the monks who traveled with Damianos to Athens from returning to Egypt to vote successful Sunday’s proceedings, arsenic they risked apprehension upon arrival.