For the past three years worshippers in the Central African Republic have met for Russian Orthodox services at Saint-André de Bimbo near Bangui. Patrick, 38, a convert from Roman Catholicism, said he was drawn by the Bible teaching, prayer and pastoral care and feels his life has changed for the better since joining. Thirty-five-year-old Olive said she values the sermons and the warmth of the congregation.
Although the liturgy is celebrated in Russian, interpreters translate the sermons for local worshippers. The parish is headed by Father Marcel Voyemawa, a convert who previously served in the Greek Orthodox Church and now belongs to the Moscow Patriarchate.
The Russian Orthodox Church says it has been steadily increasing its footprint in Africa, reporting roughly 350 parishes across more than 30 countries. In several places — including South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya — newly established buildings often have interiors modeled on churches in Saint Petersburg rather than reflecting local architectural or liturgical traditions.
Scholars caution that the headline numbers should be treated carefully. Regina Elsner, a Roman Catholic theologian and professor of Eastern Church Studies and Ecumenism at the University of Münster, suggests Moscow’s tally of new churches is likely overstated and notes the institution has incentives to publicize growth. She argues the Russian Orthodox Church functions as part of Russia’s soft power: not always a direct arm of state policy but long closely linked to government interests. Over decades the church has expanded internationally through parishes, institutional links and representation in multilateral forums.
Elsner says the church’s African presence was historically concentrated around Russian diplomatic missions but has been broadened since 2022 into independent ecclesiastical structures that claim continental authority. In some African contexts the Moscow Patriarchate’s public defense of persecuted Christians and its critique of what it terms liberal Western colonialism have found sympathetic audiences, she added — messages that can legitimize broader Russian involvement.
Historically, Orthodox Christians in Africa were under the Patriarchate of Alexandria, which sees itself as responsible for the continent. Relations shifted in 2019 after Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria recognized an independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine; Moscow then cut Eucharistic communion with Alexandria. That rupture created space for the Russian church to press its influence more directly — a move some critics describe as tantamount to ecclesiastical annexation.
Observers note the Russian church, led by Patriarch Kirill I, is closely networked with state institutions. Belarusian theologian and political scientist Natallia Vasilevich points to figures such as Leonid Gorbachev, a former head of Moscow’s Exarchate in Africa, and to ties with broader Russian networks on the continent, including links associated with Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Wagner Group. She says Moscow’s approach has often focused on drawing existing priests and congregations into its orbit, sometimes offering refuge to clergy in conflict with their bishops rather than developing grassroots missions.
Vasilevich argues these practices are opportunistic and can harm African Orthodoxy by exploiting financial fragility, creating tensions through shifting clergy, and disrupting local church life.
Jean-Fernand Koena in Bangui contributed to this report. Edited by Chrispin Mwakideu.