PATRIARCHAL LETTER OF PROTEST TO THE COPTIC PATRIARCH

Ref. No. 138/2022

Most Holy Primate of the Coptic Orthodox Church, most dear and beloved brother in the Lord of My Mediocrity, Pope Tawandros II, we embrace Your Most Holiness fraternally and greet You exceedingly..

It is with great surprise and profound disappointment that we were informed via the intense publications in the Media of your decision to grant use of a Holy Church in Cairo to the Orthodox Church of Russia for the general liturgical and spiritual needs of Russian Orthodox Christians.

Your decision unpleasantly shocked us because it directly interferes in serious internal matters of the Orthodox Church under heaven, in particular, it interferes with our direct administrative and pastoral jurisdiction as the Orthodox Archbishop of Alexandria and as the Pope and Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of all Africa for matters concerning pure intra-Orthodox relations.

You are well aware, Your Beatitude, that the Church of Russia for its own selfish purposes unilaterally repudiates every other Orthodox Church, which recognized the autocephaly, granted according to the centuries old and canonical and ecclesiological conditions established by them under the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the local Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

However, the Russian Church did not remain only in the verbal renunciation, but proceeded further unfairly, to fraternally and unlawfully invade our spiritual jurisdiction, seeking in every way to buy out clergy and parish communities in Africa for vindictive reasons and selfish purposes.

To this unimaginable offense of our Russian brothers, Your Beatitude de facto conspired through the agreement that he concluded recently together with the arbitrarily titled – and therefore canonically a defendant – "'Exarch for Africa'" Metropolitan Leonid of Klin.

Your Beatitude,

This attitude of yours filled with disappointment the hearts of the Orthodox Christians in Africa, as well as of Our Mediocrity, it discourages any further effort of productive cooperation between us and directly threatens the amicable relations of our Churches. The fact that you overlooked the old Orthodox Church of Alexandria in a matter that concerns its relationship with another Orthodox Church within its canonical jurisdiction, is a grave error, which requires immediate healing on your part, and is also an act of ingratitude towards our Ancient Patriarchate, who stood by the sister Coptic Church in difficult moments, such as e.g. of the appearance some years ago of a Coptic pseudo-Patriarch from America, etc.

Awaiting your immediate resolution of the above-mentioned situation in Egypt with our Russian brothers, whose arbitrariness takes on a pan-Orthodox dimension to be dealt with, we once again express our deep disappointment for your attitude and remain,

Most dear brother in Christ

of Your Most Holiness

+ THEODOROS II Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa

In the Great City of Alexandria

11 th July 2022