Patriarch Petros: Architect of Christian revival in Africa not seen since Roman imperial times dies

One of the most senior bishops of the worldwide Orthodox Church, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria, Petros VII, has died after a helicopter crash off the coast of Greece.

His links to the church in Alexandria go back to 1970, when he was first ordained a deacon.

Patriarch Petros was the head of a church which traces its origins back to St Mark, the author of one of the four Christian gospels which tell of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

In the early days of the church, the Bishops of Alexandria were second in influence and power only to Rome, but the adoption of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire in the 4th Century and subsequent attempts to more closely define the teachings of the Church led to division and schism.

The Greek-speaking ruling classes continued to recognise the Orthodox Patriarch, although most Egyptian Christians were to give their allegiance to the rival Coptic Patriarch.

After the Arab conquest, the Orthodox community with its links to the old rulers suffered centuries of persecution.

By the time it ended, their numbers were tiny, and it was not until the mid-19th Century that their fortunes began to revive.

In recent decades the Orthodox Patriarchate in Alexandria has been at the forefront of the Orthodox Church's modest missionary efforts in sub-Saharan Africa.

Petros was an energetic architect of this revival, working in west, south and east Africa.

Under his leadership and that of his immediate predecessors, the number of Orthodox Christians who owe their allegiance to Alexandria has risen once again to levels not seen since Roman imperial times.

Thanks for the ping.

As I understand, the Patriarch was on his way, with others, to Mount Athos:

Others passengers on board the helicopter included Metropolitan Bishop of Carthage Chrysostomos, Metropolitan Bishop of Pelusim Ireneus, and Bishop of Magadascar Nectarios, said Lt. Gen. Nikos Douvas, who was coordinating rescue efforts.

(From USA Today.)

I don't know if this is relevant, but I would be interested in knowing more about the Coptic church -- here's some tragic historical information

A titular see of Upper Egypt. It was the chief town of the Nomos of Harawî (Two Hawks), and was once politically important, but under the eleventh dynasty it was overshadowed by Thebes. Its principal god was Manou, with an Isis and an Horus infant; the remains of their temple were explored by Flinders Petrie in 1894. Coptos was at the starting-point of the two great routes leading to the coast of the Red Sea, the one towards the port Tââou (Myoshormos), the other more southerly, towards the port of Shashirît (Berenice). Under the Pharaohs the whole trade of southern Egypt with the Red Sea passed over these two roads; under the Ptolemies, and in Roman and Byzantine times, merchants followed the same roads for purposes of barter with the coasts of Zanzibar, Southern Arabia, India, and the Far East. Coptos was most prosperous under the Antonines; it was captured in 292 by Diocletian after a long siege, but soon recovered its former standing. In the sixth century it was called Justinianopolis. The see was suffragan of Ptolemais in Thebais Secunda. Five bishops are known (Lequien, II, 607): Theodorus, a partisan of Meletius; Phoebammon in 431; Sabinus in 451; Vincent, author of the "Canonical Solutions", preserved in an Arabic translation and highly esteemed by the Copts; Moyses, who wrote the panegyric of Vincent. Under the caliphs and the sultans Koptos remained one of the chief cities of Said. In 1176 its Christian inhabitants raised the standard of revolt against the Mussulmans, but were promptly suppressed by El Adel, brother of Saleh ed-Din (Saladin), who hanged nearly 3000 on the trees around the city. In the thirteenth century there were still in this region numerous monasteries. Coptos was ruined in the sixteenth century by the Turkish conquest. It is to-day a village called Kebt, or Keft, with about 2500 inhabitants, subject to the mudirieh of Keneh; it is situated near the right bank of the Nile, between Denderah (Tynteris) and Karnak (Thebes), about 620 miles from Cairo.

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