Russian Orthodox Church blasts Alexandria's Patriarch for supporting 'Ukrainian schismatics' (Moscow Patriarchate)

Until recently, Ukraine’s Orthodox faithful were divided into the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kiev Patriarchate), and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, with only the first canonically recognized by other Orthodox churches. In December 2018, the latter two bodies united to form the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, who holds a primacy of honor among the Orthodox churches, granted canonical recognition to the OCU in January 2019—a decision condemned by the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Patriarch of Alexandria (Egypt) recognized the OCU, and the Moscow Patriarchate retaliated in December 2021 by creating Russian Orthodox ecclesiastical structures in Africa and receiving over 100 Alexandrian clergy into the Russian Orthodox Church.

Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria, who has led the Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria since 2004, recently issued an encyclical letter comparing the Moscow Patriarchate’s leadership to “savage wolves.” Both patriarchates are among the autocephalous churches that make up Eastern Orthodoxy.