The head of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa Theodore II, has been visiting the Democratic Republic of the Congo since March 4 this year. His associates call the visit a “missionary tour” and it is undoubtedly linked to tensions among Orthodox Christians on the African continent following the actions of the so-called Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church – Moscow Patriarchate over the past two months. Everywhere patr. Theodore was greeted very warmly by the clergy and the people, who with their inherent enthusiasm greeted their spiritual father – the head of the Alexandrian Church. The ambassadors of Greece and Egypt, as well as senior representatives of the Congolese state were present.
A conference of clergymen from DR Congo and Congo-Brazzaville was also held, at which the unity of the Orthodox around the Patriarchate of Alexandria was attested.
Meanwhile, the Patriarchate of Alexandria has ordained new bishops in its extensive diocese, including Africans. And the current patriarchal visit is also dedicated to the establishment in the diocese of Kinshasa of the new Metropolitan Theodosius (Chichivos, a native of northern Greece). Until January this year, he was Metropolitan of Kananga (ordained in 2018), and after the death of COVID-19 of Mitr. Nicephorus was transferred to the capital’s diocese last summer.
Patriarch Theodore also appointed two of his deputies in dioceses that did not yet have their own bishops: Archim. Polycarp (Diamandopoulos, missionary, originally from Thessaloniki, Greece) for the diocese of Kisangani in Central Congo and archim. Timothy (Oak, Congolese) for the diocese of Goma in the eastern part of the country, one kilometer from the border with Rwanda.
The patriarch also appointed an archimandrite, Chrysostom (Kamuanga, Congolese), as abbot of the small monastic community at the temple of the Faculty of Theology at the Orthodox University of Kinshasa.
Both the patriarch and the local bishops and clergy of the Patriarchate of Alexandria spoke in their speeches about the anti-canonical incident of the Moscow Patriarchate’s invasion of Africa, condemning this spiritual invasion and expressing their desire to preserve the unity of Orthodox Christians in the continent. the ancient apostolic throne of St. Mark the Evangelist.
Reference: The Democratic Republic of the Congo (called Zaire in 1971-1997, formerly the Belgian Congo; not to be confused with the Republic of the Congo, also known as the Congo – Brazzaville and formerly the French Congo) is located in Central Africa. . The equator also passes through it. It is the second largest African country with a population of 75 million, making it the largest Francophone country in the world. The population of the capital Kinshasa is already 10 million. DR Congo is considered the richest country in the world in terms of natural resources, but unfortunately has the lowest per capita income.
The majority of Orthodox believers in the Patriarchate of Alexandria in DR Congo are local Africans who have converted to Orthodoxy in the last sixty years as a result of missionary work, primarily in Greek, but also in Cypriot and Finnish Orthodox brothers and sisters, respectively supported. entirely from their Orthodox churches. Congo can be called a Christian country, but we must know that two-thirds of the population is Roman Catholic and one-third Protestant, so the Orthodox are a minority. Orthodoxy in this country, as in other African countries, was “brought in” by Greeks who went there as entrepreneurs before decolonization in the 1960s. However, clergy who periodically visited small Greek communities gradually began to attract in the Orthodox faith of the local population. No one is now committed to estimating the number of Orthodox in the DRC, but it is estimated that there are tens of thousands, no matter how insignificant compared to its entire population. Due to the great distances of the Orthodox parishes in the country, new dioceses have been established in recent years and now, in addition to the capital Kinshasa, there are bishops in the cities of Kananga and Lumumbashi (Katanga region) to better care for Orthodox Congolese. For the same purpose, during his current visit, Patriarch Theodore appointed both of his deputies: archimandrite Polycarp for the bishopric of Kisangani and archimandrite Timothy – for the diocese of Goma. It should be noted that the priests are mostly local, and Africans are already being ordained bishops in order to overcome the criticism that leadership is exercised only by Europeans.
