The funeral for the late Metropolitan Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Nigeria, Niger, Benin and Togo, Vicar and Exarch of the lands of Guinea Gulf, His Eminence Archbishop Alexander (George Gianniris), who died on Friday, June 30, was held yesterday, July 1, at the Monastery of St. Porfirios in Milesi Attica, Athens, Greece.
The Vicar General of the Orthodox Archdiocese of Nigeria, Fr. James Nwaba, in a statement, yesterday, disclosed that a memorial service would be organised in Nigeria at a later date to be announced.
“We offer sympathies and prayers to his family, to the priests, religious, friends and the faithful whose lives he touched throughout his thirty five years of priestly and Episcopal ministry. His Eminence will be remembered for his generosity, patience and remarkable reliance on providence. Few people ever forgot an encounter with him and his infectious, ever-present smile.”
Nwaba said that the late Archbishop Alexander was born in Athens, Greece on May 15, 1960 and studied at the University of Athens, and University of Thessalonica.
According to Nwaba, he was ordained Deacon on October 1, 1988, and Presbyter on October 2, 1988 for the Archdoicese of Johannesburg and Pretoria where he served as parish priest and secretary to the Archdiocese until he was appointed as Director of the Patriarch’s Office, in Alexandria.
“The Holy Synod of the Patriarchate elected him Bishop for the newly established Diocese of Nigeria on September 23 1997. His episcopal ordination took place in Alexandria, Egypt on November 24, 1997. On October 27, 2004, and with the decision of the Holy Synod, the Diocese was elevated to Archdiocese and he became the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Nigeria, Niger, Benin and Togo, Vicar and Exarch of the lands of Guinea Gulf.
“He was the president of the Synodical Committee on Liturgical Affairs and a member of the synodical committees on Ecclesiastical Education/ Catechism and on Mission.” Nwaba prayed that the good Lord have mercy on his servant and grant him peace and eternal beatitude in His bosom.
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