Pope praises Greek Orthodox leader killed in helicopter crash

Published: 2004-09-13

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Greek Orthodox Patriarch Petros VII of Alexandria and All Africa was a faithful servant of the Gospel and a leader committed to Christian unity, Pope John Paul II said, offering his condolences after the patriarch and 16 others were killed in a helicopter crash. The Greek military helicopter was carrying the 55-year-old patriarch, three bishops and eight other members of the patriarch's entourage to the Orthodox monastery on Mount Athos when it crashed into the Mediterranean Sea Sept. 11, killing all on board, including the five-man crew. In a telegram sent to the bishops' synod of Alexandria and released Sept. 13 at the Vatican, Pope John Paul called the accident "a source of great sorrow and grief" for the 250,000 Greek Orthodox of Africa, for the other Orthodox churches and for the Roman Catholic Church. "I myself recall with gratitude our fraternal exchanges of letters (and) our spiritual closeness," the pope said.

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