One Hundred Years of Change: The Russian Orthodoxy in Africa in 1920–2020

Abstract

Russian Orthodox Church’s presence in Africa has traditionally been limited to the support of African Orthodox churches and the spiritual care of Russians. Russian Orthodox Church never tried to carry out missionary work among the locals. In the 1920s and 1930s Orthodox parishes arose in Africa, but most of the church infrastructure was located in the north of the continent. The first Russian parish in southern Africa was formed after the Second World War in Johannesburg; its emergence was associated with the post-war wave of emigration from the USSR. Russian Orthodox parishes on the continent have been in a crisis since the late 1950s, caused by the mass departure of Russians and other Europeans from the gained independence African countries. The 1990s marked the beginning of a new period in the history of Russian Orthodoxy in Africa. The revival of church life in Russia has also affected our compatriots abroad — members of the diplomatic corps, specialists who worked in the countries of the continent. An important milestone, which actually led to the rupture of relations between the Moscow and Alexandria Patriarchates, was the recognition by the latter in 2019 of the autocephaly (granted by the Patriarch of Constantinople) of the schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

Keywords:

Africa, Russian Orthodox Church, Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria, canonical territory, missionary