the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported Saturday, September 11.
Patriarch Petros VII of Alexandria, the spiritual leader of Greek Orthodox Christians in Africa, was heading north from Athens when contact was lost. He was going to a monastic community on Mount Athos for a religious event. Aircraft and ships mounted a rescue operation which located wreckage and bodies in the nearby Aegean Sea. No cause has yet been established for the crash, which occurred when conditions were good, the BBC said.
The BBC quoted military officials as saying that the helicopter was "in a good condition" and that the pilots were experienced.
"HOLY MOUNTAIN"
The 55-year old Patriarch, and one of the most senior figures in the Greek Orthodox Church, was reportedly on a visit to Greece from Egypt accompanied by Orthodox priests and laymen from the Alexandria area. His helicopter went missing about two hours into the flight from Athens to Mount Athos — known as the Holy mountain — for a religious ceremony, the BBC said. A church spokesman said the death of Patriarch Petros "was a huge loss" as he had breathed new life into the Orthodox Church in Africa since being elected seven years ago.
Mount Athos — a male-only community of Orthodox monasteries — has been a center of Eastern Orthodoxy since AD963 and is classed as a semi-autonomous monastic republic.
