THE Patriarch of Alexandria, Theodoros II, has condemned “uncanonical and unbrotherly actions” by the Moscow Patriarchate, after it announced new territorial names for Orthodox dioceses in Africa.
“The challenge for our historic, apostolic Church has been to maintain its canonical unity and spiritual role in an era of geopolitical turmoil,” Patriarch Theodoros II told the Greek newspaper Ta Nea last week.
“The Russian Church has now established a parallel ecclesiastical presence in Africa, challenging Alexandria’s jurisdiction. . . The justifications it puts forward are lame and rather ridiculous, but our Patriarchate has found itself historically challenged as a result.”
The Patriarch was reacting to an announcement by the Russian Holy Synod that its Patriarchal Exarch for Africa, Metropolitan Konstantin (Ostrovsky), would take charge of the newly named dioceses of Cairo-North Africa and Johannesburg-South Africa.
Patriarch Theodoros said that the Church of Alexandria, which dates its foundation to St Mark the Evangelist in 49, had traditionally collaborated with other religious communities “in a spirit of unity”, and had now intensified its own work across Africa in response to Moscow’s activities.
The Moscow Patriarchate severed ties with Alexandria and formed its own Exarchate for Africa in December 2021, in response to Patriarch Theodoros’s recognition of Ukraine’s new independent Orthodox Church (News, 22 November 2024).
The Russian Orthodox Church’s foreign-relations director, Metropolitan Antony (Sevryuk), has previously said that his department had received “many past appeals” to “establish parishes and send priests” to Africa, but had held back out of respect for the Alexandrian Patriarchate. It has traditionally claimed ecclesiastical authority throughout the continent.
He said that “everything had changed” when Theodoros II “unilaterally recognised Ukrainian schismatics” in 2019. He said that the Exarchate had since set up 350 parishes, served by 250 priests in 32 countries, providing “everything necessary for worship”, together with drinking wells and medical supplies.
“With so many asking the Patriarch of Moscow to take them under his jurisdiction, we could not leave hundreds of clergy and parishioners without care and canonical protection,” Metropolitan Antony said.
“A large number of African students are now studying at theological schools in Russia, with the Church providing them with everything they need, from clothing to scholarships and tickets for holiday trips home.”
The move by the Russian Church has been repeatedly condemned by Patriarch Theodoros, who declared Metropolitan Konstantin unfrocked in February 2024. He has also accused President Vladimir Putin’s government of supporting the new dioceses to expand its influence in Africa.
New Russian Orthodox parishes and appointments have been made this year in Angola, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Uganda, and Zambia, as part of the new Johannesburg-South Africa diocese. The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, visited St Sergius’s Cathedral, Midrand, in South Africa, in February.
Senior African clergy are currently in Moscow for a planning conference and tour of Orthodox sites with Metropolitan Konstantin.