Patriarch of Alexandria swears that OCU is graceless for him, - head of ROC DECR

The head of the Department for External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, spoke about the reasons for the creation of the African Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church. The bishop notes that the ROC was forced to respond to the request of the religious communities of the Patriarchate of Alexandria after Patriarch Theodore unilaterally recognized the OCU. The bishop said this in an interview with TASS, the press service of the Moscow Patriarchate reports.

“Historically, the Russian Church had several parishes on the African continent: in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and South Africa. Carrying out our activities on the continent, we respected the canonical rights of the Patriarchate of Alexandria. The ancient decrees, which we call the Holy Canons, recognize the north of Africa as the canonical territory of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, which during the twentieth century extended its activities to the entire African continent. In all these parishes, the clergy, being sent to serve from the Russian Orthodox Church, coordinated their activities with the hierarchy of the Patriarchate of Alexandria and conducted them only with the blessing of the local bishops. Mostly Russian-speaking parishioners prayed in our churches,” said Metropolitan Anthony.

However, according to the bishop, the situation has changed due to the fact that Patriarch Theodore of Alexandria, despite his own position, recognized the so-called OCU. In this regard, a significant number of clerics of the Patriarchate of Alexandria made active attempts to join the Russian Orthodox Church as a church that did not recognize the Ukrainian church schism.

“Everything changed in 2019, when Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria (in the world Nikolaos Horeftakis) suddenly and unexpectedly, unilaterally, recognized the Ukrainian schismatics. The Patriarch of Alexandria had previously visited both Russia and Ukraine many times. In his numerous public speeches, he swore his allegiance to the Holy Canons, saying that the Ukrainian schismatics are graceless and cannot be considered legitimate, canonical clergymen. A large number of videos can be found on the Internet where Patriarch Theodore speaks about this, in particular while in Ukraine. Only a year before recognizing the Ukrainian schismatics, he visited the Odesa Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, where he was warmly welcomed and called on the faithful to remain loyal to the canonical Church. And then in November 2019, Patriarch Theodore, by his own decision, made even without the approval of the Synod of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, declared the recognition of Ukrainian schismatics and began to commemorate their leader.

“We were in no hurry to resolve the issue, although we realized that we could not leave these priests in such a difficult situation. However, there was still hope for the possible repentance of the Primate of Alexandria or that the Holy Synod of this ancient Church would reverse the decision taken by the Patriarch alone. But after Patriarch Theodore held a joint “worship service” with the leader of the Ukrainian schism in August 2021, there was no choice. According to the canons, one who concelebrates with a schismatic becomes a schismatic himself. And we could not leave hundreds of clergymen and an even larger number of parishioners who attend the parishes that are under the care of these clergymen without help and protection, without canonical patronage. People did not want to be complicit in the split of Orthodoxy, and their decision had to be answered. A decision was made to establish the Patriarchal Exarchate of Africa, a Patriarchal Exarch was appointed, and the Russian Orthodox Church began to actively work with the incoming appeals. The exarch and the clergy who assisted him visited these parishes, got to know the clergy on the ground, and made decisions about the possibility or impossibility of accepting these priests into the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church. In December 2024, the Exarchate turned three years old. The two dioceses — South African (covering 24 countries) and North African (covering 31 countries) — include about 350 parishes in 32 African countries. Today, more than 250 priests serve in them. In addition to spiritual projects, we managed to start implementing many humanitarian and educational projects,” — Metropolitan Anthony added.

As reported, Patriarch Theodore of Alexandria continues to criticize the Russian Orthodox Church because of the activities of the Moscow Patriarchate on the African continent. The first hierarch, who had previously recognized the OCU contrary to the canons, said that the Russian Church, “through the invasion of Africa,” had neglected the principles of church law.