ATHENS, Sept 11 (AFP) - The Patriarch of Alexandria, Peter VII, one of the most senior figures in the Greek Orthodox Church, was killed on Saturday along with 16 others in a helicopter crash in the Aegean Sea, Church sources said.
Monsignor Christodoulos, head of the Greek Orthodox Church, spoke of his "great pain" following the accident, which took place between Athens and Mount Athos in northern Greece, one of the holiest sites in Orthodox Christianity.
The Greek government confirmed the death of the patriarch, who was the second most senior figure in the Greek Orthodox Church and the spiritual leader for the church's followers in Africa.
Government spokesman Theodore Roussopoulos described his death as a "great loss for Orthodoxy and Hellenism", and paid tribute to the 55-year-old cleric's "brilliant humanitarian work in Africa".
He said the government would observe a minute of silence on Saturday evening in a tribute to the Church leader.
Sixteen other people were on board the Greek army Chinook helicopter: the patriarch's brother, several Alexandrian and other Orthodox clerics, and five crew members.
Greek army chief of staff Nikolaos Douvas said rescuers were in the process of recovering bodies found floating at sea among the helicopter debris, 5.5 nautical miles off the Halkidiki peninsula where Mount Athos is located.
The helicopter had disappeared off radar screens after leaving Athens at 9:30 am (0630 GMT). It was supposed to land at noon (0900 GMT) on Mount Athos, air force spokesman Constantinos Prionas said.
It last made contact with aviation authorities at 11:10 am, when the pilot warned that he was losing altitude, about 10 nautical miles off the Halkidiki peninsula.
The Greek military dispatched a helicopter and two air force aircraft to take part in the recovery operation.
A military source said the crash was almost certainly accidental in nature, but that its cause was still unknown.
The patriarch had been due to make his first official visit to the semi-autonomous monastic republic of Mount Athos, a centre of Eastern Orthodoxy, since his appointment on February 21, 1997.
Peter 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.
A speaker of Arabic and English, he held a variety of positions in the Orthodox Church of Alexandria and across Africa before becoming patriarch.
Born in Cyprus on September 3, 1949, Peter entered a seminary at the age of 12 and, following theological studies in Greece, joined the Alexandrian church in Cairo in 1970.
In 1980, he took up office in Johannesburg, followed by Cameroon and West Africa in 1994.