New York – His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios conducted today at noon, at the Archdiocesan Chapel of Saint Paul, a Trisagionmemorial service for the repose of the soul of Andreas Panagopoulos, 42, who lost his life on the morning of Wednesday, March 12, in the tragic explosion and collapse of two buildings in East Harlem (Park Ave. and 116th street) where he resided.

Present at the memorial prayer service were his brother Aris Panagopoulos, who flew in last night from Copenhagen, Denmark, where he resides, and Evangelos Alkimos, a good friend of the deceased in New York along with several other of his friends and colleagues. Also present were the Consul General of Greece in New York George Iliopoulos, the General Secretary for Gender Equality of the Hellenic Republic Vasso Kollias, who is in New York for presentations at the United Nations and was visiting Archbishop Demetrios this morning, and clergy and lay members of the staff of the Archdiocese.

Archbishop Demetrios offered words of solace to the deceased’ s brother, expressing the grief and condolences of the Church and the Omogeneia for the sudden, untimely and tragic death of Andreas and the other victims of the building collapse. His Eminence said that “the prayers of all of us will be with you, with your mother in Kalamata (Greece), with Andreas’ wife Liseth Perez Almeida and all the other relatives and friends here and in Greece.”

Andreas’ body will be transported to Greece for the funeral and interment, while his friends in New York will hold a memorial service on Sunday March 16, 2014, at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation in Manhattan.