The Russian Orthodox Church plans to strengthen its presence on the African continent

Patriarchal Exarch of Africa, Metropolitan Constantine of Cairo and North Africa, announced that the Russian Orthodox Church plans to strengthen its presence on the African continent. The Metropolitan noted that the Russian Orthodox Church has a “fairly accurate understanding” of church life in Africa, and therefore the goal of the ROC in Africa is to build a proper church life, “with great respect for the local clergy, traditions, and mentality.” He said this in a comment to TASS.

«If we talk about our main tasks, what are we actually doing? Our task is to establish a normal, proper church life. We have enormous respect for the local clergy, the inhabitants, their traditions, their culture, their way of life, and their mentality. We perceive them as our brothers and sisters, and we are not ashamed to learn from them if necessary. If we believe that we have something more than they do, we try to offer what we have as delicately as possible,» — said the hierarch.

Earlier, we reported that the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, which took place in Moscow on July 24, 2025, considered the issue of the titles of the bishops of the Patriarchal Exarchate of Africa. In the course of considering this issue, a decision was made to change the titles of the bishops of the African Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, indicating in them toponymic information related to the African continent.