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>>Home>> English >> Obitiries >> HB Pope Prtros VII
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His Beatitude Petros VII, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa
1949-2004
Orthodox
Egypt
His Beatitude Petros VII was born in the village of Sichari in Cyprus on 3 September 1949.
He entered a seminary at the age of 12 .
In 1966 he was sent from the monastery of Machera to the Apostle Barnabas Seminary in
Nocosia, from which he graduated in 1969.
In August of that year he was ordained deacon at the Holy Monastery of Machera by Chrysostomos, then bishop of Constantias,
who later became Archbishop of Cyprus.
In December 1970 he was invited to the Patriarchate of Alexandria, where he served as deacon to His Beatitude Nicholas
VI, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandra, until September 1974.
While there he studied at the Averof Gymnasium, and after graduating, in 1974, he studied theology at the University
of Athens, from which he graduated in 1978.
While studying, he served at the Church of St Spyridon in Satadiu, Athens.
He was ordained priest on 16 August 1978 in Cyprus, and on returning to Egypt was elevated to the rank of Archimandrite,
and appointed to serve as Patriarchal Vicar in charge of the Patriarchal Office in Cairo,.
In October 1980 he was sent to South Africa, where he was appointed priest in charge of the newly established Church
of Panagia Pantanassa in Melrose, Johannesburg.
In June 1983 he was elected Metropolitan of Accra and West Africa, and was consecrated bishop in August 1983 in his
home monastery in Cyprus.
The Archdiocese of Accra and West Africa then covered 22 countries.
In October 1991 as a consequence of Archbishop Anastasios Yannoulatis being appointed Archbishop of Albania, His Eminence
Petros was made Patriarchal Exarch of the Archdiocese of Irinoupolis (Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania), where he served
until December 1994.
In November 1994 he was named Metropolitan of Cameroon and West Africa.
In February 1997 he was elected Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria in succession to His Beatitude Parthenios III, who
had died the previous year. His Beatitude Petros was enthroned to the ancient See of Alexandria, founded by St Mark
in the 1st century, on 9 March 1997.
He was the 129th Pope in succession to St Mark. As Patriarch he was noted for having revitalised Orthodox mission
outreach in the African continent.
He was killed in a helicopter crash while on a visit to Mount Athos on 11 Sepotember 2004, along with several other
Orthodox bishops from Africa. Bishop Nektarios of Madagascar, was among the dead
Archbishop Makarios of Kenya
Dr Fr Dn Stephen Hayes
HB Pope Petros VII was greatly respected for his work on improving Orthodox relations with the Coptic and Roman Catholic
Churches, as well as for his many humanitarian commitments in Africa.
He spoke Greek , English and Arabic, he held a variety of positions in the Orthodox Church of Alexandria and across
Africa before becoming patriarch.
The Bishops who were killed the the
helicopter crash
Ποιος
ήταν ο Πατριάρχης Πέτρος
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