First ordinations for Russian Church’s African Exarchate take place in Morocco

Rabat, Morocco, December 21, 2022

Photo: exarchate-africa.ru

For the first time since its establishment by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church last December, ordinations specifically for the African Exarchate were celebrated over the weekend.

Metropolitan Leonid of Klin, the Patriarchal Exarch for Russia, arrived in Morocco on Saturday, and on Sunday, December 18, he ordained two men during the Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Resurrection in the Moroccan capital of Rabat, the press service of the Exarchate reports.

In particular, Deacon Herman Edianga from Uganda was ordained to the priesthood, and Sergius Voemava from the Central African Republic was ordained to the diaconate.

Met. Leonid also signed antimens for parishes in several countries throughout Africa.

The Holy Synod of the Russian Church initially established the African Exarchate on the territory of the Patriarchate of Alexandria on December 29, 2021, with 102 priests from various countries initially being taken into the Moscow Patriarchate. Since then, clerics and parishes of the Patriarchate of Alexandria have been received into the Russian Church throughout Africa, and new parishes have been established.

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow stopped commemorating Patriarch Theodoros of Alexandria and the Russian Church created its Exarchate after Alexandrian Patriarch entered into communion with and concelebrated with the Ukrainian schismatics.

And in response to the Russian Church’s activity on the territory of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, the Alexandrian Ecclesiastical Court has declared Met. Leonid and two Russian priests who have been active in Africa—Frs. George Maximov and Andrei Novikov—to be defrocked, and at its November session, the Alexandrian Synod resolved that Pat. Theodoros will no longer commemorate Pat. Kirill in the Divine services.

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12/21/2022

Comments

Ignace2/23/2023 5:59 pm

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Peter C.12/27/2022 3:42 am

The situation in the Balkans is also quite problematic, fortunately the Macedonian Church recognized its subjection to the Serbian Church. Each Church can decide its internal organization, therefore, the autocephaly of the Church of Macedonia is solely a decision of the Serbian Church. It would be quite another matter if Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia should also have an autocephalous church simply because they are independent states. I repeat, this is the decision of the Serbian Church. As for Alexandria, I have to admit that a Russian exarchate is perhaps not the best option. I am not saying that the clerics of the exarchate did wrong, after all it is a duty not to concelebrate with schismatics. The point is that the exarchate should aim at the deposition of Theodoros instead of being part of the Russian Church. Returning to Ukraine, it is up to Moscow alone to resolve its canonical situation. Certainly the mistake was not made in 1991, the mistake was made by the Soviets in creating the Ukraine and a bunch of other republics within the former Russian Empire. And I understand the grudge that Ukrainians may have towards Moscow. It is surprisingly similar to Catalonia's grudge against Madrid. In Spain, the kingdom of Castile took control of the Peninsula and a good part of the American continent, functioning as a confederation of kingdoms until the arrival of the Bourbons in the 18th century. After that, Castilla tried to assimilate the other kingdoms, causing unnecessary hatred. The mistake after the fall of the Soviet Union was not to adopt a Eurasian alternative. A single State that contemplates several nations within itself (Muscovites, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Kasakhs, etc.) but without its internal borders being determined by ethnicity, since that was the greatest damage Lenin did. With a Eurosiatic vision, the fights between the ethnic groups would be set aside and the Moscow Patriarchate would not be seen as the property of a single ethnic group, which I will call Muscovite, because there are many Russias, not just one. And that there are many Russias is something that is mentioned in the titles of the Patriarch of Moscow.

David12/26/2022 10:09 am

Peter: Using that line of reasoning, the Balkan Churches were wrong to break away from the EP. ON PAPER, the EP was in the right. However, it was pastorally untenable for those Churches to remain under the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which the EP recognized by doing the right thing and issuing a Tomos to them (begrudgingly, but they did it). A significant portion of the Ukrainian populace bears historical grudges against Moscow, and spiritual wounds as a result of those grudges and the MP's inability to handle the situation sensitively or pastorally. The MP's position in Western Ukraine was completely untenable from the start, and since the war, many in the UOC also feel animus towards Moscow. The MP should have let the autocephalists go in 1991 with a Tomos, making pastoral provisions for those who wished to remain with the MP. They didn't, and that hard-heartedness begat hard-heartedness in turn. This hard-heartedness swings both ways. NATO should have disappeared with the Warsaw Pact. The blame for all of this is found everywhere. 30 years of bad decisions by EVERYBODY on the global stage, figures who thought they could game the system and play chess when they should have been doing otherwise. The pastoral reality in Ukraine makes the MP's continued presence there all but impossible. Gaslighting and oppressing people in the name of Canonical exactitude is utter Pharisaism, and a crime against the people who are affected. What did the MP hope to gain by keeping millions of disgrunted Ukrainians in canonical limbo all those years? And further, what does the MP hope to gain by perpetrating the same supposed offense against Alexandria? If the goal is unity and the healing of wounds, none of this makes any sense.

Peter C.12/26/2022 6:16 am

David, listen to the words of a Latin American, who observes the dispute between Ukraine and Russia as an outsider. Nation States are imagined communities, artificial entities that arose after the French Revolution. Perhaps if Latin America were Orthodox instead of Catholic, should it have 20 autocephalous churches, one for each State? For me such a thing would be absurd, a single patriarch for all of Latin America would suffice, as Ferdinand II the Catholic tried to curb the jurisdiction of the pope. The Russian case is not very different, a great empire fragmented into several states. Perhaps if the countries of Central Asia were orthodox in majority, would they also need an autocephalous church? No friend, for someone like me the Ukrainians are behaving like liberals. You cannot choose which church to belong to, the Ukrainian territory is part of the Moscow Patriarchate, much older than the artificial Ukrainian state.

David12/25/2022 10:04 am

Editor, James P.: Who said I wasn't for self-determination? Nobody should be forcing anybody anywhere. I am certainly not excusing the absolutist positions of EITHER party. Both the OCU and UOC see it as starkly black and white. There was a time when the Estonia solution could have been applied to Ukraine, but it was sabotaged by Philaret AND the MP. Both sides are hard of heart and not listening. Russia refuses to accept the fact that a significant portion of the Ukrainian population has CHOSEN the West, and CHOSEN to orient themselves westward. The "graceless schismatic" argument is long in the tooth (and in my view self-serving), as the canonical reception of the Ukrainian Autocephalists in North America (who had the exact same canonical issues) AND the 1946 Council of Lvov provide the precedent and blueprint for fixing this mess. As far as I am concerned, they are just as canonical as any "vested" Catholic priest. The MP didn't and doesn't want to fix it, and I genuinely and truthfully don't understand why. America and NATO occupy the space that the British and Russian Empires occupied in the 19th Century when it was the EP that was being pulled apart. Condemning secular interference now is absurd, especially considering that is what fueled the whole autocephaly push in the first place. The Russian Empire nursed and aided those autocephalist movements when it was the EP being gored. Now that the shoe is on the other foot, they want to cry foul? This is where I take issue. There is plenty of hypocrisy "on both sides." The OCU and UOC needed to be allowed to co-exist for awhile (with the EP and MP being on the same page about making that happen). That this didn't happen is the fault of many players in many quarters. The Russky Mir and "Hellenism" BOTH have become obstacles to the Gospel. I have no stomach for any of it. It is Christmas now for much of the Orthodox world, so hopefully those prayers touch the hearts of those needing touching. Merry Christmas to all. Christ is Born!

Metropolitan Ambrose12/24/2022 1:24 pm

As a bishop who has been active in Africa for over thirty years, working outside the Alexandrian Patriarchate, I would like to comment: While any sane person would agree that the Alexandrian Patriarchate's recognition of Dumenko's schism was a gross mistake, I cannot conceive that it gives the Patriarchate of Moscow the right to accept priests and communities for which the Alexandrian hierarchy has laboured selflessly for years, expending many funds donated from Greece and Cyprus. Let Moscow found its own missions, train its own clergy, and build its own churches, schools and hospitals, just as we, the Old Calendarists of Greece, have done, rather than winning over (by whatever means) the clergy, and occupying the missions for which they themselves have not laboured nor expended a single ruble!

James P12/24/2022 12:18 pm

David: Although it seems useless to try to engage in constructive conversation with you, I nevertheless won't give up on an erring brother. You are obvious not really following the story. The Ukrainian Church has even changed its charter to cut itself off completely from the MP. The MP has not taken any actions against it. This is because, we are Christians, not scribes and Pharisees. See: https://orthochristian.com/150120.html. Even the Patriarch has come out with a statement against condemning the UOC for its actions. The MP is all for self-determination. But you, apparently, are not. You are saying that even those who do not want to be in a schismatic, fake church should go there anyway; that even those who want to stay with the UOC should leave it anyway. There are even those, yes, who want to remain at least spiritually with their brothers in Russia. But your view, sir, is pharisaical.

Editor12/24/2022 12:10 pm

David: A very good comment from Theodoros to another article that applies to what you are saying: "It is not the business of the Ukrainian government or the US foreign policy establishment to declare a Church autocephalous. The Dimenko led schismatic entity can never be legitimate or canonical considering its creation is dependent on political interests. The legitimate Ukrainian Orthodox Church has attempted to distance itself politically from Moscow and is persecuted now even more fiercely than before. The regime of Zelensky and his American backers have no inclination to respect the canonical Church. The Moscow Patriarchate should NOT grant autocephaly to the canonical Church under the present circumstances. After all, this entire dirty business between the Phanar, Kiev, and Washington is aimed at destroying the Russian Church and nation. Granting the legitimate Church autocephaly will set a dangerous precedent that will strengthen the Turk Bartholomew And American intentions to interfere in the life of all Orthodox Churches."

David12/24/2022 6:08 am

James: And what of those Ukrainians who "in good conscience" could not and cannot remain under Moscow? Such pastoral concern was and is scandalously absent in the MP's dealings with the autocephalists (today's OCU) since 1991, and the bitter fruit of that myopia is plain today. Yes, anti-Russian forces took advantage of the situation, but Moscow opened the door for them through their hard heartedness. If Moscow had handed the UOC a Tomos long ago, or accepted an Estonia arrangement, the religious situation would be better for all involved. Tragically, hatred of Russia has deepened, and the UOC is totally lost to the MP. Autocephaly was inevitable, and the MP refusing to accept that contributed to the bad situation.

Nikolai12/24/2022 4:45 am

David, There are deep issues in Africa as evidenced by over half of some African dioceses clergy leaving Alexandria to be accepted into the Excarchate. Those issues didn't happen over night and many of the out date this current crisis by decades. The African clergy themselves made choice to leave their Greek bishops and join with the MP. Now you can go off and claim that the MP is bad for doing so etc etc....it doesn't change the fact that the Patriarchate of Alexandria is fallen away from the church at the moment and has behaved in an unorthodox fashion not only in the current crisis, but also in its treatment of it's own native African priest. The crises of such a great number of priests to be given a home under a bishop who is actually serious in his Orthodoxy was a serious choice they made. They know their situation far better than we do. And they, the pastors and spiritual fathers of Africa, are choosing to leave in massive numbers. The Patriarchate of Alexandria is currently in schism with the Holy Tradition of the faith, it is not the fault of the MP for seeking to protect the faithful from their error.

James P.12/23/2022 8:59 pm

David, it seems to me that the MP did the Christian thing. They provided a place to go for those Africans who could no longer in good conscience remain with Constantinople. Africa is a large continent, with many different countries. It only makes sense to open the way for more Africans to enter the Orthodox Church. And don't forget, the MP is not in communion with the CP due to the latter's uncanonical actions and heretical ideas about the CP's status in Orthodoxy. I say, glory be to God, perhaps this is how He will receive more Africans into the fold.

David12/23/2022 1:50 am

Nikolai, Alexandria's jurisdiction over the whole continent was recognized by all the other Churches (including Moscow). This very website published numerous articles over the years about the "great work" Alexandria was doing in Africa. That essay you mentioned was a shrill, defensive (and unconvincing) piece that could be summed up in a single sentence: "HAH Bartholomew made me do it!" The MP didn't have to set up this Exarchate. They could have told them no, just as the MP told The Ukrainian Autocephalists in 1991 no. Even if the EP was wrong, that doesn't justify the MP doing the same thing elsewhere in the world.

Stephen Njeruh12/22/2022 3:21 pm

Herman Endiangu, my great,good and humble friend at Orthodox Patriarchal Seminary, Nairobi. I am glad to hear you in a decade. God bless you my brother! Axios!

Matthew12/22/2022 2:24 pm

So here's an interesting question: Will Alexandria recognize the newly-ordained Fathers Herman and Sergius as truly and validly ordained, or not? The reason this matters is because Alexandria claims to have defrocked the bishop who just ordained them, so Alexandria's stance regarding Fathers Herman and Sergius is a test of whether they follow the same ecclesiology in Africa that they do in Ukraine. In Ukraine, they recognized schismatics ordained by defrocked bishops as being true clergy. So, to be consistent, they should also recognize schismatics ordained by defrocked clergy IN AFRICA as being true clergy with Grace and valid Mysteries. Will they?

Nikolai12/22/2022 4:27 am

@ James Hardly. Russian had churches in Africa before the Patriarchate of Alexandria started calling itself "Patriarch of all Africa". There is an essay on this very website explaining the reasons and lawful justifications for the African Exarchate. As for your Ukraine jab. The victim of a crime does not become guilty simply for taking action to protect itself from assault. The EP's actions are, from the stand point of holy tradition and the way Orthodox Churches govern themselves, a crime. Leave your Russia hate at the door. Also the great schism is the Latin - Orthodox split, not the EP - Moscow one.

First ordinations for Russian Church’s African Exarchate take place in Morocco

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