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>>Home>> English >> Obitiries >> Bishops
The news media have not generally given much information about the church leaders who were
killed along with His Beatitude Petros, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria, in the helicopter crash on 11 September
2004.
Even the Greek media have given little more than a bare list of names, and most of the news reports have concentrated
attention on who was to blame for the crash -- the military authorities or civilian air traffic control. A visiting
Patriarch is regarded as a VVIP, somewhat above a visiting head of state, and so several people's jobs are on the
line.
Outside Greece there has been very little reported, and in what has been reported one important point has been overlooked
-- the very real loss to the Orthodox Church in Africa. The following potted biographies may help to give a more human
dimension to it.
Metropolitan Irenaeus (Talambekos) of Pilousion (Port Said)
His Eminence Metropolitan Irenaeus Talambekos was born in Pireas, Greece in 1934. He studied theology at the University
of Athens and received his doctorate at the Theological Academy of Moscow.
He was ordained deacon in 1953 and priest in 1959. He served as Exarch of the Throne (of Alexandria) in Odessa (1963-1972)
and was also archivist and chief secretary of the Patriarchate of Alexandria 1968-1972, and in 1972 he was elected
Bishop of Nikopolis and was appointed Patriarchal Warden in Alexandria.
In 1976 he was elected Metropolitan of Accra, with jurisdiction over 22 countries in West Africa. He was based at
Yaounde in Cameroun. The cathedral in Yaounde had been build by the Greek community, but the community was diminishing,
as they sent their children to France for tertiary education, and many did not return to Cameroun.
One day some passers by asked if they could look inside the church, and Metropolitan Irenaeus showed them around,
and they then asked if they could come to a service, and they did so on the following Sunday, and then returned and
eventually became Orthodox. Some of the Greeks were farmers in the area, and they began to hold garden parties for
enquirers about Orthodox. Some of the farm workers were from the north of Cameroun, members of the Toubouri tribe,
and some of them became Orthodox too. When they returned home, they established parishes in their home district, and
by the time Metropolitan Irenaeus left in 1990 there were eight Toubouri-speaking parishes, seven in Cameroun and
one across the border in Chad.
In 1990 he was appointed to the Metropolis of Carthage, and in 1994 as Metropolitan of Kenya and Irinoupolis (Dar-es-Salaam).
In March 1997 he was appointed general Patriarchal Warden and in September of that year as Metropolitan of Pilousion.
He could speak Greek, Russian, French, English and Arabic.
On 11 September 2004 he was killed in a helicopter crash in the Aegean Sea along with the Patriarch of Alexandria
and several other clergy.
Metropolitan Chrysostomos
(Papadopoulos) of Carthage
His Eminence Metropolitan Chrysostomos Papadopoulos of Carthage was born in Dafia, Lesbos, Greece. He graduated from
the theology school of the University of Athens and attended the Orthodox Institute in Paris.
He was ordained deacon in 1957 and priest in 1959. He served the Holy Metropolis of Serres as preacher and senior
Archimandrite (Protosynkellos) and also served as Exarch of the Patriarchate of Alexandria in Russia. In 1976 he was
elected as Bishop of Nikopolis, where he succeeded Metropolitan Irenaeus, and was editor of the journal "Pantainos",
and was also responsible for the general publication work of the Patriarchate.
In 1990 he was elected Archbishop of Zimbabwe. In 1996, when the Patriarch came to bless a monument in Bulawayo to
commemorate the first Archbishop he suffered a heart attack, and in 1997 was appointed Archbishop and Metropolitan
of Carthage (Tunisia), and was also the representative of His Beatitude Petros, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria,
in Athens. He wrote many scholarly articles, and also represented the Patriarchate at several academic conferences.
On 11 September 2004 he was killed in a helicopter crash in the Aegean Sea along with the Patriarch of Alexandria
and several other clergy.
Bishop Nectarius (Kellis) of Madagascar
His Grace Bishop Nectarius Kellis of Madagascar was born in Rhodes, Greece, on 6 December 1952. When he was young
he emigrated with his parents to Australia where he completes his schooling.
He graduated from the theology school of the University of Athens and the theology and philosophy schools of Flinders
University of Adelaide, South Australia, where he also did postgraduate studies in literature.
He was ordained deacon in Athens in 1978 and priest in Adelaide in 1981. He served in various parishes in Australia,
and was secretary of the Archdiocese of Australia in Adelaide from 1983- 1987. At the same time he was student chaplain
at Flinders University.
From 1987-1995 he was abbot and spiritual father of the Holy Monastery of St Nektarios in Adelaide. He founded the
Orthodox Library and published the monthly magazines "Agios Nektarios" in Greek and "Orthodox Messenger" in English.
In July 1994 with the blessing of His Eminence Chrysostomos, Archbishop of Zimbabwe, he started the Orthodox mission
in Madagascar. He was elected the first Orthodox bishop of Madagascar on 23 September 1997 and was consecrated on
23 November 1997 by His Beatitude Petros, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa.
In the first eight years of his 10 years of ministry in Madagascar he founded two monasteries (one male and one female),
one seminary, two clinics, seven primary schools, one high school and 49 parishes.
On 11 September 2004 he was killed in a helicopter crash in the Aegean Sea along with the Patriarch of Alexandria
and several other clergy.
This information has been taken mainly from the Calendar of the Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa. More on
the work of Bishop Nectarius can be found in "The Orthodox Word" No 198, 1998.
The unworthy deacon
Stephen Methodius Hayes
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: http://www.orthodoxy.faithweb.com/
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
Obituary H.B. Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria
Petros VII (2004-09-11)
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