Source: Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
The Patriarchate of Moscow has initiated a schism within the Orthodox Church, and is doing everything it can to deepen and perpetuate that division.
The Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa is one of the five ancient and original Patriarchates of the Church; in modern times, it has been fulfilling the Lord Jesus Christ’s call to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19) by establishing archdioceses and bishoprics in countries including Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The selfless and tireless missionary activity of the Patriarchate of Alexandria has faced numerous challenges; in recent years, however, one of the most significant of those challenges has come from an unexpected quarter. The Moscow Patriarchate, acting yet again as an arm of Russia’s global geopolitical agenda, has initiated its own activity in Africa, in a clear violation of the canonical jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa.
The Moscow Patriarchate has undertaken these divisive actions in an un-Christian spirit of vengeance. On Nov. 8, 2019, His Beatitude Theodore II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, made the Patriarchate of Alexandria the second Autocephalous Orthodox Church to recognize the Autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Six weeks later, on Dec. 27, 2019, the Russian Orthodox Church officially severed communion with the Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa.
The Russian Church made this situation even worse on Dec. 29, 2021, when the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church established the Patriarchal Exarchate of Africa, the exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in Africa. The entirety of Africa is the canonical territory of the Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa. The Moscow Patriarchate’s establishment of a Patriarchal Exarchate in Africa was an unlawful incursion into territory that is under the jurisdiction of His Beatitude Patriarch Theodore.
Patriarch Theodore has spoken out strongly against this incursion. In an encyclical issued on May 9, 2022, the Patriarchate of Alexandria denounced the “anti-canonical, unfraternal, ahistorical and vengeful attempt of the Russian Church in Africa to invade the canonical jurisdiction of the ancient Patriarchate of Alexandria, following the recognition by His Beatitude the Primate, Pope and Patriarch His Beatitude Theodore II of the Autocephaly canonically granted to the local Church of Ukraine by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, by means of financial enticement of the native priests.”
In view of his efforts to defend religious freedom and preserve the canonical order of the Church, His Beatitude Patriarch Theodore received the Athenagoras Human Rights Award in New York City on Oct. 8, 2022. In a message commemorating the occasion, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew stated: “It is worthy and right that the Order of St. Andrew is bestowing the Athenagoras Human Rights Award of 2022 to His Beatitude Theodore, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, in honor of his great contribution to the Church and humankind, as well as his labors in support of the right to religious freedom in Africa, the great continent to which, as His Beatitude our brother says, ‘belongs the future.’”
Two days following his reception of this Award, His Beatitude briefed U.S. President Joe Biden, himself the recipient of the Athenagoras Human Rights Award in 2015, on Russia’s uncanonical intrusion into Africa. His Beatitude stated: “I had the opportunity to discuss not only the invasion of Ukraine, but the ‘invasion’ by another Church of my own Patriarchate.”
Russian adventurism in Africa continued. On Oct. 11, 2023, the Moscow Patriarchate appointed one of its hierarchs as Patriarchal Exarch in Africa, establishing offices for him in Cairo and beginning operations throughout the African continent.
His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has spoken out strongly and repeatedly against these illegal acts. On July 30, 2024, he wrote to His Beatitude Patriarch Theodore, denouncing the Moscow Patriarchate’s actions in Africa and emphasizing that the Russian hierarchs would be accountable before God for the damage they have done to the unity of the Church. Of the Russian hierarchs, His All-Holiness stated: “They obey not the humble Christ but the mighty gold. They shamelessly declare that they are Russians first and then Orthodox.”
On Aug. 31, 2024, His Beatitude Theodore II addressed a letter to His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the Hierarchs of the Ecumenical Throne, expressing his ongoing concern regarding Russia’s actions within the canonical territory of the Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa.
Russia’s actions, His Beatitude stated, threaten the unity of the Church, and are “completely unjust, anti-brotherly, anti-church, and anti-canonical.” This Hierarch has allegedly established himself illegally in Cairo, within the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, and has begun operations across Africa. His Beatitude expressed disappointment with the “deafening silence” of other Primates of the Orthodox Church (with the notable exception of His All-Holiness) regarding Russia’s actions in Africa, asking what could possibly justify their “unacceptable, unjust, and unholy silence.” His Beatitude urged the Hierarchs of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to act as “angels of light” regarding Russia’s actions and the canonical prerogatives of the Patriarchate of Alexandria and All the East.
In response, on Sept. 3, 2024, the Ecumenical Patriarchate strongly condemned the actions of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Ecumenical Patriarchate stated that it stood in “unwavering support of the beleaguered Patriarchate of Alexandria.” His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America added: “At the conclusion of the Synaxis of Hierarchs of the Ecumenical Throne, we stand even more firmly with our Mother Church and Her canonical leadership in the world. As our revered Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has declared, we are united in support of His Beatitude Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria in condemning the unjust and anti-canonical actions of the Moscow Patriarchate in Africa. Their installation of a Russian Hierarch as Patriarchal Exarch in Cairo, within the sacrosanct jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, is a grievous violation of the holy canons and an affront to the unity of the Orthodox Church.”
Russia’s incursion into Africa risks splitting the Church and sowing confusion among the faithful. The Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate stand with His All-Holiness, His Beatitude Patriarch Theodore, and His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros in condemning these actions against the unity of God’s Holy Church.