Vatican City, Jan 29, 2008 / 09:03 am
Greece is in mourning today as it laments the loss of the head of the Greek Orthodox Church, Archbishop Christodoulos. Pope Benedict XVI has sent a telegram to expressing his condolences and praising Christodoulos’ work towards Catholic-Orthodox unity.
The passing of the leader of the Greek Orthodox Church was not unexpected since he was engaged in a 7 month battle against cancer. On Sunday, he was moving in and out of consciousness and suffering from liver failure, according to Church officials. Yesterday, at the age of 69, the archbishop passed away.
Upon learning of the death of Archbishop Christodoulos, the Pope sent a telegram to His Eminence Seraphim, metropolitan of Karystia and Skyros.
In his telegram, Pope Benedict gave his assurances of his spiritual closeness to all those mourning the death "of this distinguished pastor of the Church of Greece" and expressed his gratitude for the Orthodox leader’s efforts to achieve unity.