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Vatican City, Vatican, 13th
September 2004 (CNA) -
This morning Pope John
Paul II sent a telegram to the Holy Synod of the Greek
Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and all Africa
expressing his sadness upon the death of Patriarch
Petros VII of Alexandria in a plane crash, and
remembering the “spiritual closeness” he shared with
him:
“I was deeply saddened to
learn of the tragic death of His Beatitude Petros VII,
patriarch of the illustrious See of Alexandria, whom the
Lord has called to Himself together with Their
Excellencies Metropolitans Irinaios of Pelusium and
Chrysostomos of Karthagena, Bishop Nektarios of
Madagascar, the patriarchal vicars of Athens and Cyprus,
and several associates and family members.”
“The tragic death of
Patriarch Petros VII during a journey to the Holy
Mountain is a source of great sorrow and grief for the
Orthodox sister Churches of the Patriarchate of
Alexandria, for the Bishop of Rome and in the Catholic
Church and for all those who esteemed the late
patriarch's ministry to the Church in Africa and his
commitment to Christian unity.”
“I myself recall with
gratitude our fraternal exchanges of letters, our
spiritual closeness, the participation of the Greek
Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria in significant
events like the 'World Day of Prayer for World Peace' in
Assisi in 2002, and his constructive contribution to
theological dialogue in the Orthodox Churches as a whole
and with the international mixed commission.”
“I pray that the Lord will
grant 'grace upon grace' to His faithful servant and
will welcome him and his earthly traveling companions
into the eternal light and peace reserved for God's
righteous ones. At the same time I beseech the spirit of
wisdom to guide and sustain the Patriarchate of
Alexandria at this time of sadness.”
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