Many of the Orthodox clergy are in Harare for the eighth assembly of the World Council of Churches.

Sunday's service, intended as a sign of Orthodox unity and of the church's presence in Africa, was presided by Patriarch Petros VII of Alexandria and All Africa and by Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana and All Albania, who was an Orthodox missionary in Kenya before his enthronement as the head of the Orthodox Church in Albania in 1991.

Though for many centuries the Orthodox Church was a cornerstone of life in Greek colonies in northern and, later, other parts of Africa, in recent decades the church has spread its influence far beyond Africa's Hellenic communities, mainly by establishing missions across the continent. Coptic Churches - which are part of the Oriental Orthodox church family - have also extended their work beyond their traditional bases in Egypt and Ethiopia.

In his address to the international congregation on Sunday, Patriarch Petros stressed the importance of Orthodox unity, adding that Orthodoxy had deep roots in Africa and was committed to expanding its mission.

Although the Patriarchate of Alexandria is numerically one of the world's smaller Orthodox Churches, it is recognised by Orthodox Christians around the world as the second "in dignity" - after the See of Constantinople - because it was established in the 1st century by the Apostle Mark. Sunday's congregation was reminded of the patriarchate's traditional importance when Petros was referred to by his full title - "Bishop of Bishops, Pastor of Pastors, 13th Apostle, Judge of the Universe, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa".

Taking part in the service were bishops and priests from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Patriarchates of Antioch and Jerusalem, as well clergy from the Russian, Romanian and Georgian Orthodox churches, the churches of Greece and Cyprus, from Orthodox churches in America and "the Czech Lands", and from the Polish Orthodox Church. Conspicuously absent were representatives of the Bulgarian and Serbian Orthodox churches, which have not sent delegates to the WCC assembly.

"Today we have the joy of participating in the glory of Orthodoxy," said Archbishop Macarios, of Zimbabwe, who hosted the service. "Orthodoxy today is spreading radically in the entire African continent," he said. "We look forward to the day when there will be a network of Orthodox churches around Zimbabwe."

Though its membership is at present overwhelmingly made up of ethnic Greeks, the Zimbabwe diocese is now completing the translation of its liturgy into the Shona language - one of Zimbabwe's two main indigenous languages - and is preparing to ordain its first indigenous priest.

The Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa consists of 14 dioceses and has about 500 priests, most of them black. Kenya, where Archbishop Macarios served before his appointment to Harare, has the biggest concentration of Eastern Orthodox Christians, with about 300 churches.

In Zimbabwe, which has today only three Orthodox congregations and two priests, missionary work is a key part of the church's activities. Zimbabwe's Greek community numbers about 2500, most of them descended from Greeks who arrived here when the region was still a British colony called Southern Rhodesia. Many of them came from Cyprus and the Greek islands at the start of this century to work on a major railway construction project and to set up farms and businesses. Though some ethnic Greeks have left since Zimbabwean independence in 1980, many have stayed.

In many other African countries, significant numbers of Russians and Romanians, as well as ethnic groups from other traditionally Orthodox nations, are trying to form religious communities. An estimated 60 000 ethnic Russians live in South Africa alone.

By contrast, Bernard Diafouka, an indigenous Orthodox priest from Congo (Brazzaville), told ENI that in his country there were only a handful of whites among the 4000 to 5000 Orthodox Christians.

"We have a young patriarch who has started to train many priests," Diafouka said, referring to Patriarch Petros. He said he was convinced that Eastern Christianity had a bright future in Africa. "We have just been witnesses to that," he told ENI after Sunday's pan-Orthodox liturgy. [730 words]

Photographs of the assembly are available from Photo Oikoumene

Related sites:

WCC Assembly Web Site

Photo Oikoumene

ENI takes no responsibility for the content of external sites

This selection of ENI articles from the WCC assembly are for personal information only and remain copyright 1998 Ecumenical News International. They may not be reposted electronically or reproduced in any form whatsoever. For further details about subscriptions to the full ENI Daily News Service, including details of media subscriptions, contact ENI, PO Box 2100, CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland, Tel: +41-22 791 6515, Fax: +41-22 798 1346, Email: eni@eni.ch, or consult the range of ENI products.