Irenaeus (Talambekos) of Pelusium

His Eminence, the Most Reverend Irenaeus (Talambekos) of Pilousion was the Metropolitan of the Archdiocese of Pilousion (Port Said), part of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa between 1997 and 2004. He died in a helicopter accident in the Aegean Sea in 2004 along with Pope Petros VII (Papapetrou) of Alexandria.

Life

His Eminence Irenaeus was born in 1934 in Pireas, Greece. He studied at and graduated from the University of Athens and continued his education at the Theological Academy of Moscow, where he received a doctorate degree. Metr. Irenaeus could speak Russian, French, English, and Arabic in addition to his native Greek.

In 1953, he was ordained deacon and in 1959 priest. Between 1963 and 1972, Fr. Irenaeus served as exarch of the Church of Alexandria in Odessa. Between 1968 and 1972, he had additional duties as archivist and chief secretary of the Patriarchate of Alexandria.

In 1972, Fr. Irenaeus was elected Bishop of Nikopolis and appointed Patriarchal Warden in Alexandria. In 1976, Bp. Irenaeus was elected Metropolitan of Accra with jurisdiction over 22 countries in West Africa. He established his see in the cathedral in Yaounde that originally was built by a Greek community, but which had lost communicants as the children of the original community went to Europe for education and did not return. Metropolitan Irenaeus found that local residents were interested in Orthodoxy and began attending the services at the cathedral. As the number of inquirers increased many became Orthodox, including visiting members of the Toubouri tribe from Cameroon. By the time of his appointment as Metropolitan of Carthage in 1990, eight Toubouri speaking parishes had formed in Cameroon and Chad.

In 1994, Metr. Irenaeus was appointed Metropolitan of Kenya and Irinoupolis (Dar-es-Salaam). In September 1997, he was appointed Metropolitan of Pilousion. Metr. Irenaeus reposed as the result of a helicopter crash in the Aegean Sea on September 11, 2004.

Succession box: Irenaeus (Talambekos) of Pelusium
Preceded by: ?	Bishop of Nikopolis 1972-1976	Succeeded by: ?
Preceded by: Efstathios Efstathopoulos	Metropolitan of Accra 1976-1990	Succeeded by: Petros Papapetrou
Preceded by: ?	Metropolitan of Carthage 1990-1994	Succeeded by: ?
Preceded by: ?	Metropolitan of Kenya and Irinoupolis 1994-1997	Succeeded by: Seraphim (Kykkotis)
Preceded by: ?	Metropolitan of Pilousion 1997-2004	Succeeded by: Panteleimon

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Sources

• Patriarchate of Alexandria Archdiocese List website
• Alexandria bishops in crash
• Holy Archbishopric of Accra Archdiocese web site