On 11th September 2010 His Beatitude Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa officiated at the Divine Liturgy at the Holy Church of St Savvas the Sanctified in Alexandria, before the end of which he conducted the six-year memorial service of his late predecessor Patriarch Petros VII, the members of the Patriarchal entourage and the crew of the helicopter which fell on 11th September 2004 in the sea off Mount Athos where it was bound, causing the death of all 17 passengers aboard.
During his address His Beatitude spoke of the life and work of Patriarch Petros VII and of the clergy and lay members of his entourage. He then added: “My thoughts turn daily not only to the late Patriarch, our brother hierarchs, the clergy and the young Deacon Nektarios, those valuable lay members of our Patriarchate, but also to the young men who made up the crew of the fateful helicopter. I think of the pain of their parents, I am shaken when I bring to mind the image of their mothers, who throughout their lives will bear in their hearts the pain of losing their children. I pray for them all and commemorate them all at the holy altar”.
Present at the memorial service were the representative of the Consulate General in Alexandria, the Chairman of the Cypriot Brotherhood Mr. Haralambos Haralambides, Chairmen of Societies and others.
