By Priest George Maximov, head of the Missionary Department of the Patriarchal Exarchate of Africa of the Russian Orthodox Church
A delegation from the schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) celebrated the Divine Liturgy in Nairobi’s Orthodox Patriarchal Cathedral of Sts. Cosmas and Damian on July 26 with the blessing of Greek Orthodox Archbishop Makarios, marking a grave canonical violation according to church law.
The event featured self-proclaimed Metropolitan Eustratiy Zoria and Archpriest Vitaly Danchak—traveling under the so-called “blessing” of Metropolitan Epiphanius Dumenko—presiding over the service with assistance from local African clergy. This action directly contravenes Canon 33 of the Council of Laodicea, which prohibits joining in prayer with schismatics.
Patriarch Theodore of Alexandria, who once barred Ukrainian schismatics from entering his church in Odessa, has permitted them to celebrate liturgies in Africa—a development that underscores the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate’s shift since establishing the Patriarchal Exarchate of Africa in December 2021. The Exarchate was created after Patriarch Theodore recognized the OCU in 2019 without explanation, contrary to his previous stance.
The Orthodox Church has long deemed the OCU schismatic. Self-proclaimed “Patriarch” Filaret Denisenko—whose defrocking and excommunication were accepted by all major Orthodox Churches including Alexandria and Constantinople—led the group now operating under a false hierarchy. Since the 1990s, the OCU has been recognized as schismatic by regional churches.
The OCU has systematically attacked the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), engaging in physical assaults, church seizures, and beatings. Despite the UOC comprising the majority of Orthodox believers in Ukraine, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople recognized the OCU in 2018 without its request—a decision that intensified schismatic violence.
The overwhelming majority of regional Orthodox Churches have not recognized the OCU. Only Alexandria and Constantinople fully accepted it as legitimate; the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem and others have refused recognition for over nine years.
Metropolitan Makarios, who refused to concelebrate with OCU representatives but sent his flock into this violation, is criticized for enabling schismatic communion. This incident confirms why many Orthodox Africans defected from Alexandria in 2021—to avoid spiritual defilement through communion with schismatics. By joining the Patriarchal Exarchate of Africa of the Russian Orthodox Church, these believers preserved their spiritual purity and avoided the canonical transgression now occurring in Kenya.
