Completed this year 20 years since the tragic accident of the Passenger - Vehicle "EXPRESS SAMINA" which sank on the night of September 26 of the year 2000 after a collision on the islets "Portes" that are off Paros with a tragic report 81 the dead, most of which from the islands of our Paronaxia………
Despite the fact that so many years have passed since that night of the shipwreck, the memories remain alive for the relatives and friends of the victims as well as for the residents of the island of Paros whose contribution to the rescue effort and care of the rescued passengers ship was catalytic.
As Metropolitan of Paronaxia, on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of this tragic event, I feel the need through this short statement to express once again my condolences and my full support to the families of the victims of the shipwreck.. I pray to God to rest the souls of their people "in the tents of the righteous and the saints" and to send to Himself His consolation from on high to alleviate the pain of loss that I know never goes out. At the same time I reverently turn my memory to the late Naxios Port Authority of Paros, Lieutenant Captain Dimitrios Malamas, who that night lost his life on duty after his heart could not bear the stress, the intensity and agony he faced in those tragic moments in order to take any action to save human lives from the waves of the Aegean.
On this occasion, however, I would like to express my gratitude to the fishermen of Paros who with more self-denial and a sense of self-sacrifice rushed there at night with their boats and in very difficult weather conditions at the site of the shipwreck, risking their own lives and their property in order to save from certain drowning the passengers who were at sea. I also thank all the people of Paria who in every way helped those caring fellow human beings in those tragic moments., prominent and pioneer of my late and highly respected predecessor Ambrose of BI of Paris.
At the same time, I wish our Christ with the embassies of Our Lady of Ekatontapyliani and Agios Nikolaos to accompany our sailors and our ships in their voyages so that we will never experience similar moments again..
With much paternal love in the Lord,
† PARONAXIAS KALLINIKOS